Is Your Remote Employee Eligible for FMLA Leave When Working from Home?
A funny thing happened as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Employers everywhere sent their employees home to work, many of whom will work forever more out of their home or remote worksite, never to see the Company headquarters again. Coming out of the pandemic, some employers have drastically scaled back their brick-and-mortar headquarters. Others have ditched the company HQ, replacing it with a modest store front or even a Post Office Box. [ All you Gen Z peeps : if you are wondering what a “Post Office box” is, ask your parents!] As remote work cements itself into the fabric of the 21st Century workplace, it’s wreaking havoc on how an FMLA-covered employer determines whether its remote employees are eligible for FMLA leave. Why, you ask? Consider the definition of an eligible employee. Under the FMLA, an employee is eligible for FMLA leave if they have worked 12 months and 1250 hours prior to FMLA leave. These two, of course, are relatively easy to determine. However, the employe...