Paid Time Off and FMLA in North Carolina
Posted by Tamara
In North Carolina, in some cases, employers may count paid time, such as sick leave, vacation time, personal days and short-term disability against a worker’s 12 weeks of FMLA leave. According to the U. S. Department of Labor, these policies depend on the company and the state in which the person is employed. Employees must be informed in writing before taking the leave that it will count as FMLA.
FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) allows workers to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave per 12 months for “serious health conditions” and for the birth of a child. Employees may also take FMLA leave to care for an immediate family member, for a newly adopted baby or child, and to receive a new foster child into the home.
Employers are perfectly within their rights to establish policies for the workers to first use paid leave before using FMLA leave, or as part of FMLA leave.
A few very generous companies may permit employees to take paid time off in addition to FMLA leave, but it is not the norm. For instance, Mary takes 10 weeks off after the birth of her child. The first four weeks of the ten are paid sick and vacation time, so only the last six weeks are counted toward FMLA leave, so she still has 6 weeks of FMLA leave left.
Jane works for a company that counts her paid leave against her FMLA leave. She takes the same 10 weeks after childbirth. Four of those weeks are paid sick time, vacation and personal days. The remaining 6 weeks are unpaid FMLA leave. All 10 weeks however, are counted toward FMLA, so Jane only has 2 weeks of FMLA leave left. This is how most companies figure FMLA.
When a company deducts paid leave from available FMLA leave, it must inform the employee prior to the beginning of the leave, and make sure the worker clearly understands the policy. Usually, this information is given to the employee in writing.
Five states have established short-term disability laws at the state level, including California, New Jersey, Hawaii, Rhode Island and New York. Employees in these states should contact their Human Resources professionals for plan details.
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