Service Unlimited's FMLA Concerns
The History
Vince Brown was recently hired as the Human Resource Manager for Service Unlimited which is call center for multiple home improvement businesses. The company was started by Joe and Linda Whitmore in 2003 who also owned their own improvement business. Linda came up with the idea when she found that she was overwhelmed with phone calls from potential customers. Although Joe and Linda had the home improvement business they were still working full time because the business wasn’t enough to support t their family and didn’t provide insurance. Linda decided to have some of her friends who were housewives, assist her with some of the phone calls. Since they lived in a small city other contractors and home improvement businesses heard of the idea and asked if Linda if she would be willing to have people handle their calls as well.
The Structure
As of July 2007, Service Unlimited had established itself as a well known business in the community with over 100 employees. At that time, the call center was taking calls for over 50 local and regional businesses. Since the company was fairly small, the organizational functional structure was very flat. There were five supervisor overseeing the 80 phone representatives and 10 dispatchers. The five supervisors reported to Joe as did the two call analysts. The eight person administrative team reported to Linda. There wasn’t much communication between the workers and the supervisors unless there was a problem. Everyone basically keeps to themselves. The supervisors rarely meet with Joe and Linda unless there is a mandatory meeting, which they all dread.
The problem
In December 2007, Linda and Joe noticed that 10 of their 50 contracts with the home improvement businesses were cancelled due to poor service. This was very upsetting to Linda because she had always prided herself for the type of service she had trained the employees to provide. She wanted to get more information on the poor service.
Joe contacted their former customers and asked what type of poor service they received. Some didn’t respond while others told Joe that it’s his company and he should know what was going on. Joe was surprised to learn that some of the callers complained to the contractors about some of the following experiences:
· Some callers had to wait almost 10 minutes to talk to a representative.
· Calls were dropped
· Many calls were not returned as promised
· Some jobs were not dispatched at all
Getting to the root of the problem
Joe and Linda decided to research the allegations of poor service so they can get to the root of the problem. Linda had the call center analyst find out the percentage of calls that were dropped and the percentage of calls that waited more than three minutes to speak to a representative. Linda was astonished to learn that forty percent of the callers were waited more than three minutes and thirty percent of the callers waited for more than five minutes to speak to a representative. Five percent of the calls were dropped.
Joe decided to hold a mandatory meeting with the supervisors to find out what some of the issues were. The supervisors agreed that they didn’t have enough people to handle the calls that were coming into the call center. Joe couldn’t understand why this was a problem because he didn’t have this issue before. Once Joe learned that each supervisor had four to seven employees who were on sick leave, he wanted to know who authorized that many people being out and why it was never communicated. Since none of the supervisors would elaborate more, “I will conduct an investigation and will hold each of you accountable for any wrong doing that may be discovered”.
Later that night, Joe talked to Linda about the number of employees who were on sick leave since Linda was in charge of handling attendance. Linda said, “Those employees are allowed to be off work because of FMLA”. Joe wanted to find out more about FMLA and what the requirements were because he felt that some people may be abusing the policy.
Joe got on the internet and went to Department of Labor governmental website to find out all that he could about FMLA. He stayed up all night and drafted a document about FMLA to give to leadership. He also signed up to get posters mailed to him about the law. His document included some of the following information:
· The law pertains to employers who employee 50 or more employees for each working day during each 20 or more calendar work weeks.
· An employee is eligible if they’ve been employed with the company for at least 12 months and have worked a minimum of 1250 hours.
· Eligible employees are allowed to get 12 weeks of unpaid time during a 12 month period for birth and care of newborns, the care of immediate family members with serious health conditions, and if an employee is unable to work due to a serious health condition.
Joe called another meeting with the supervisors the next afternoon and asked that they bring the files of those employees who are currently on sick leave. Linda would also be present in the meeting since she handled the attendance policy. Linda and Joe were surprised to see that most of the employees who were out on leave had a pattern of taking FMLA the same time each year. Some of the other employees weren’t even eligible for FMLA.
Joan Roberson, a supervisor who had been with the company for years stayed after the meeting to talk to Joe and Linda about the situation. She stated the following, “Joe, most of the employees are getting burned out because there aren’t enough people to handle the calls. Some of the callbacks aren’t completed because the first priority is handling those on the phones”. She also stated that some employees don’t feel that it’s fair for the same people to be out sick while they report to work and do their job as required so them maybe quitting. Joe replied “Joan, thank you for your time and information we will bring in a specialist to handle this situation because we value every employee and don’t want to lose anyone”.
The solution
Joe and Linda decided to create a human resource department that will handle employee files, attendance tracking, payroll, and the tracking and education of laws such as FMLA. This person would need to have five or more years of experience in human resources. After placing an ad in the newspaper and over the internet, Joe and Linda decided to hire Vince Brown who was a human resource representative for a telephone company for more than ten years.
Joe and Linda told Vince that they want their business to succeed and that he would be a big part of communicating and reinforcing any company policies and governmental laws. They want every employee educated about FMLA and proof that they understand the law. They also want a policy with repercussions for those who violate or abuse the policy.
Vince is aware of what’s expected of him but first he needs to answer the following questions before he proceeds:
1. How should he investigate the current use and misuse of the current FMLA policy and how should he communicate his findings to Linda and Joe.
2. How should he communicate the FMLA policy/law to the employees and get feedback to ensure they understand it?
3. How can he make the new policy accessible to all employees should they have any questions or concerns.
4. How can he open up and promote more communication among employees?
5 comments:
Upon receiving an FMLA complaint, the employer should fully investigate the circumstances. Human Resource representatives should have primary responsibility for an internal investigations and might be assisted in various types of activities by officials at the work site. The investigation should be thorough, and the investigator should be open to alternative outcomes as he looks into the circumstances being issued. Fact-finding and analyses should be carried out in a discreet fashion, with absolute confidentiality. It may also be necessary to seek advice from an independent assessment from legal counsel typically covered by attorney-client privilege.
Among the first things the employer will want to determine is whether the employee seeking leave is eligible to take leave. Is the employer covered by the statute? Does the employee work at a location that would trigger statutory coverage? Has the employee satisfied the “tenure triggers” for leave entitlement under the FMLA? If the answer is “yes”, has the individual already used his or her statutorily mandated 12-week leave entitlement. Also, is the reason for taking the leave one that is covered by the FMLA due to a qualifying condition.
A thorough analysis of each employees file should be taken. There should also be a record of the leaves taken by each employee and the reason for the leave. After all information is collected, the researcher will set down with Linda and Joe and discuss his findings. After determining if any violations have taken place a meeting will be held to discuss FMLA.
A letter will be sent at the employees homes to all employees requiring their attendance at a luncheon. This luncheon will be mandatory for all employees at Service Unlimited, including those currently on FMLA. At this meeting, a speaker will come in and discuss the FMLA policies. Each employee will be given, discussing employee/employer rights. This forum will offer an opportunity to ask questions, in which the speaker will then answer. Following the meeting, an email will be sent out of the previous meeting and the discussion points that were addressed. With this a letter acknowledging the understanding of the FMLA policy will be signed by the employee and placed in a file.
Around the office, there will be notices posted designating FMLA leave and providing certain notices if the employer seeks medical certification from the employee, providing notice of the employee’s right or obligation to use accrued paid leave in lieu of FMLA leave, notice of co-pay responsibilities on group health insurance, etc. It will be the responsibility of Linda and Joe that all information is accurate and updated regularly.
Resources
(u.k.), (2004, July 5.) Responding to a DOL Investigation of an Employee FMLA Complaint. Retrieved September 6, 2008 from HR.COM > www.hr.com/.../responding_to_a_dol_investigation_of_an_employee_fmla_complaint_eng.html
(u.k.), (2004, April) Twenty Things You Need to Know About the FMLA.
Retrieved September 6, 2008 from Counsel Consulting >
http://www.counselconsulting.com/avoiding_04_2004.htm
Vince should peruse the records of all instances of FMLA use and evaluate them for their validity, requesting additional documentation when necessary. He should convey his findings privately in a meeting with Linda and Joe, and provide documentation in written form.
A compulsory training should be developed that will address all possible questions for most scenarios where people need to use FMLA. The training should be delivered in person by a paid trainer a minimum of two different times so that all employees can attend. Employees should sign up for one of the scheduled training sessions via a link on their computer
At the training, an attendance sheet should be signed indicating names and signatures of those who attend. After this is compiled, a mandatory make-up session for anyone who missed the training should be offered at a later date. Involve the audience by offering a question and answer session following each presentation. This will open the lines of communication. A short multiple choice quiz should be delivered after each presentation, and evaluated by the trainer after the class. Anyone with a score of 70 or less will incur additional training.
The FMLA policy should be printed in a small brochure or leaflet. and distributed to all employees via a mass mailing list to their homes. The policy should be incorporated into the employee handbook which is both electronic and hard copy, distributed to new hires when they join the company and accessible to all employees.
References
Business Link. (2008). Communicating with employees. In Business link in London (A Guide for Communicating with Employees). Retrieved September 4, 2008, from Crown Copyright: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=5000672695&site=181&r.s=sl.
Both Selena and Darlene approriate suggest a meeting menu that will involve training and education. Going forward, there will also be a need to create a "culture of awareness" about FMLA that can use as a spring board this event. Cassandra, how might such a campaign be carried out, that is, infusing in to the company culture FMLA awareness? How might external public communications be utilized in such a campaign?
Dr. McTyre,
The company could create a policy and procedure book and have every employee read it annually so they can stay abreast of any changes. There should be an acknowledgement page that everyone should sign.
There should be bulletin boards in the break rooms where FMLA information sheets could be posted.
Vince Brown, the new human resource representative at Service Unlimited, will need to approach the current use and misuse with some caution. First he will need to be aware of the FMLA policy/law, all of the stipulations, the company stipulations, the reasons behind the employee leaves, their total hours worked at Services Unlimited, and all of the background associated.
According to “FMLA Anti-Fraud Provisions Sometimes Difficult to Enforce”, (Johnson, 2005), employers can adopt a written policy that prohibits employees from engaging in certain conduct while on FMLA leave. If Service Unlimited does not have any type of policy stating conditions, the employee is free to engage in any type of conduct while on FMLA leave; if the leave is legal and the employee is fully qualified.
Vince needs to investigate each FMLA leave taken, the employee history, the doctor’s orders, seek a second and third opinion if need be, document all findings, making sure all findings are legal and obtained legally. Once he has gathered all information he needs to set plenty of time aside with Linda and Joe, a trained FMLA specialist, and go over all facts and findings. This should be a time when they will not be interrupted for any reason and allow plenty of time after he relays his findings to further discuss actions needed to be taken. It may also be a good idea to have an attorney present on this meeting in case further legal action against employees needs to take place. The time this meeting will take place needs to be specific, “allowing time for everyone involved to prepare” (Anonymous, n.d.); and “enough time for those involved the ability to communicate” all concerns effectively. (Anonymous)
Vince needs to be completely educated on the FMLA policy/laws, have all posters, documentation, and company specific FMLA policy information in hand for presentation to employees. He needs to make sure each employee has their own copy of all information and have each employee sign and date a document stating they have reviewed and fully understand the laws and policies. This signed document needs to be kept in the employee files and reviewed once a year.
The new policy needs to be accessible to all employees on bulletin boards, electronically, and hard copies. There should be an email P.O. Box and phone number available for questions or comments if any arise while the employees are employed at Services Unlimited.
Through the P.O. Box and phone number employees need to feel comfortable contacting an FMLA representative with any questions or comments, knowing they are going to receive accurate and timely information.
References
Johnson, Matthew E. (2005) “FMLA Anti-Fraud Provisions Sometimes Difficult to Enforce”. Retrieved September 9, 2008, from http://www.halleland.com/enews/winter2005/FMLA.htm.
Anonymous, n.d. “Communicating in Your Organization”. Retrieved September 9, 2008, from http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/CommunicatingInAnOrganization.htm.
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