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leave of absence termination
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leave of absence termination
Discuss employment-law issues such as family leave, overtime, disabilities law, harassment, immigration and termination.
I have an employee who asked his manager for a month's personal leave of absence. Unfortunately, the manager approved the leave without consulting me, the HR Manager and new to this organization. We h
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Forums » Topic Forums » Legal Forum » leave of absence termination
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leave of absence termination
posted at 7/25/1999 7:23 PM EDT
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Posts: 8
First: 7/25/1999 Last: 8/11/2000 |
I have an employee who asked his manager for a month's personal leave of absence. Unfortunately, the manager approved the leave without consulting me, the HR Manager and new to this organization. We have no formal policies - yet. Anyway, the employee has not returned and his son - also an employee, has told us that the employee intends to stay in Mexico permanently and not come back to work. I would like to terminate his employment effective the day he left for the leave of absence so that we will not be responsible for his medical premiums. No forms were completed for a leave of absence and nothing was put into writing. Are there legal issues I should be concerned with, would it be safer to terminate him after a month instead because that was the verbal agreement between the manager and the employee? Thanks for any help! |
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leave of absence termination
posted at 7/26/1999 5:50 PM EDT
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Posts: 833
First: 6/11/1999 Last: 8/23/2001 |
You didn't mention how long he's already been out. If it's relatively recently, why not offer him COBRA for "reduction in hours"? (unless your manager made arrangements for his insurance to be company-paid)
If you're beyond a period where your company's in trouble for non-notification, you're safer to pay the premium and then send your notification. I'd suggest you handle the termination and the insurance premium issue separately. The employee was given a month.. regardless of the information you get from the employee's son, you just don't know for sure.. I'd suggest you honor the commitment and terminate, if the employee doesn't return, as a voluntary-quit or for job abandonment. Use the leave as a reduction in hours to justify the COBRA extension in order to get the employee off your premium bill. |
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leave of absence termination
posted at 7/26/1999 7:26 PM EDT
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Posts: 2217
First: 6/16/1999 Last: 12/13/2001 |
In essence, your question is whether your company must honor the promise made by the manager of your (former?) employee, even though not made in writing. Generally, oral agreements are enforceable; there are certain exceptions to this rule, referred to as the Statute of Frauds. Leaving aside the possibiy of a variation in of the S of F in your jurisdiction, I don't see the S of F applying to the fact pattern you describe.
By the way, has the allotted month expired already, or is it still possible that the employee could return within the time his manager gave him? I don't see you faring any better by disclaiming the authority of your manager to bind the company by his/her promise to the employee (again, of course, subject to variations in state law). Particularly in the absence of any written policies setting forth who has the authority to approve leave, you would be hard pressed to argue that the manager lacked the actual and/or apparent authority to bind the company. |
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