Inclement Weather and FMLA

Climate ChangeInclement weather often causes businesses to shut their doors for one or more days at a time. When an employer closes due to poor weather, it is important to understand the implications this has for employees out on Family and Medical Leave (FMLA). The FMLA rules do not specifically define what to do under these circumstances, so it is recommended to follow the holiday week rule. This rule states that if an employee is out on FMLA leave for a full week, then the days the business is closed due to weather are counted against the 12 weeks of leave. On the other hand, if an employee works a day or more during that week, the days that they would have been expected to work are counted as FMLA leave.

It should be noted that this guideline applies to closures of less than one week. Should an office be closed for more than one week due to inclement weather or the after-effects, only days the employee would have been expected to work should count against the employee’s FMLA leave.

For more information, please click here.