Forums
Risk of FMLA Retaliation for rate/hours reduction
General Forum
Risk of FMLA Retaliation for rate/hours reduction
Discuss workforce management, performance management, retention, communication, motivation, contributing to business results and other topics.
I work for a restaurant franchise group. A manager at one of our locations has, in the past, had a poor relationship with the owner of the location (we partner with gas stations, so the manager ultima
0
Cat:Topic ForumsForum:ForumId53
Cat:Topic ForumsForum:ForumId53Discussion:DiscussionId36365
Forums » Topic Forums » General Forum » Risk of FMLA Retaliation for rate/hours reduction
|
Risk of FMLA Retaliation for rate/hours reduction
posted at 1/28/2010 5:39 AM EST
|
Posts: 1
First: 1/28/2010 Last: 1/28/2010 |
I work for a restaurant franchise group. A manager at one of our locations has, in the past, had a poor relationship with the owner of the location (we partner with gas stations, so the manager ultimately reports to and has a working relationship with the manager). The two of them could not work together and constantly were in disagreements.
The employee request and took FMLA leave for hypertension and high blood pressure. On her medical certification from her doctor, the problem was highlighted as being stress related and directly related to the employees working environment. Upon returning, it was agreed that her previous working environment would only aggrivate the problem she went on FMLA for. The closest position we had was a shift leader position at another store which she moved to. The problem we have is while we kept her rate, she is simply too highly compensated for her current position. My question as a result is, what, if any laws prevent us from either making her an hourly employee (she was salaried) or decreasing her rate of pay and hours? Once again, she wasn't able to be restored to her previous position due to the environment and poor working relationship, however, having her in this new position is underutilizing her skills and does not make sense for us long term financially. |
|
|
Risk of FMLA Retaliation for rate/hours reduction
posted at 1/28/2010 6:20 AM EST
|
|
Posts: 2146
First: 2/15/2006 Last: 9/14/2011 |
"Upon returning, it was agreed that her previous working environment would only aggrivate the problem ..."
Was her original position offered to her? Who made the decision not to return her to that original position? The employer or the employee? If the employee refused to return to that position, the employer holds a better hand of cards. If it was the employer's decision not to return the employee to that position, you hold a bad hand of cards. Much is going to depend on the details of exactly how that statement quoted went down. FMLA and resulting court decisions have been very stringent about the job/pay/benefit protection and the non-retalition part of FMLA. Another side question is how you have handle these type of management conflicts in the past when there hasn't been FMLA involved? Were employees transferred to like positions? Were they demoted and have a decrease in pay? Could you support that you would have done the same regardless of the FMLA issue? I strongly suggest you seek legal counsel prior to making any decision. As a wise person on another board posts...the devil is in the details. And I am not sure you can post enough out here to get the best advice for your specific situation. |
|
|
Risk of FMLA Retaliation for rate/hours reduction
posted at 1/28/2010 7:25 AM EST
|
|
Posts: 464
First: 6/30/2004 Last: 11/22/2010 |
FMLA does not protect the employee from not doing the work the position requires. Not returning the employee to the same or equivalent position is an issue though, as RRupert correctly pointed out.
I would have approached it by giving the EE back the same position and had performance requirements documented, documented, documented, etc. There may be some sort of disability claim, but that has to do with disability insurance, if that was part of the benefit package - it may also have some Workers Comp ramifications, but those are other questions and issues. |
Forums » Topic Forums » General Forum » Risk of FMLA Retaliation for rate/hours reduction
