Why would MH's HR lady say this ( FMLA related)

[zeewifeandmama]

So, MH is going to be able to take off around 4 weeks when baby is born. His family is coming in to town from out of the country so he is taking a little time off before and after. He has this approved by his managers and has the PTO. He is casual friends with the HR manager at his office and he was talking about his time off coming up and she tells him " just dont tell me that you are taking off for the baby coming because I'll be forced to submit it as FMLA unpaid leave for you"....I'm confused. Why would she say/need to do that if his time off is already approved?

[karinothing]

Hmm, I don't know. I am pretty sure they can't force you to take unpaid leave if you want to use your paid leave. In fact, it is normally the opposite that they will force you to use your PTO at the same time as FMLA.

[vanillacourage]

She may not have realized that he had PTO saved up and available to use. They can make it count against his 12w per year but there shouldn't be an issue with it being paid.

[zeewifeandmama]

Jun 7, 2012 17:35:39 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Hmm, I don't know. I am pretty sure they can't force you to take unpaid leave if you want to use your paid leave. In fact, it is normally the opposite that they will force you to use your PTO at the same time as FMLA.

This is what I thought too...I thought that maybe I didnt have a clear understanding of the laws/procedures though.

[pescalita]

My H took paid leave for 4 weeks, and he also got a letter from HR that they were counting it as FMLA concurrently.

Anyone can take PTO and have it approved w/o cause, but if it is specifically for an FMLA reason, they can count it against your 12 weeks paid or not.

Your H's HR lady is saying, "I won't count this time off against your 12 weeks of FMLA; just in case something comes up in the next year that you need it".

[thatgirl2478]

I took FMLA - the full 12 weeks. The first week was billed as sick time, the next 8 weeks STD, the final 3 weeks were all PTO/unpaid time off.

Since FMLA is unpaid, my guess is that HR would count the paid 4 wks of PTO against his 12 weeks of FMLA.

[Ashley&Scott]

Jun 7, 2012 18:56:35 GMT -5 pescalita said:

My H took paid leave for 4 weeks, and he also got a letter from HR that they were counting it as FMLA concurrently.

Anyone can take PTO and have it approved w/o cause, but if it is specifically for an FMLA reason, they can count it against your 12 weeks paid or not.

Your H's HR lady is saying, "I won't count this time off against your 12 weeks of FMLA; just in case something comes up in the next year that you need it".

I agree with this.

[zeewifeandmama]

Jun 7, 2012 18:56:35 GMT -5 pescalita said:

My H took paid leave for 4 weeks, and he also got a letter from HR that they were counting it as FMLA concurrently.

Anyone can take PTO and have it approved w/o cause, but if it is specifically for an FMLA reason, they can count it against your 12 weeks paid or not.

Your H's HR lady is saying, "I won't count this time off against your 12 weeks of FMLA; just in case something comes up in the next year that you need it".

Wow. didnt know that they could essentially "make" you take the FMLA time..good to know.