From the course: Hiring, Managing, and Separating from Employees

Leave management

From the course: Hiring, Managing, and Separating from Employees

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Leave management

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- Perhaps the trickiest part of compliance is managing employee leave. Employees leave work for many reasons, being sick, injured, taking care of ill family members, vacation, maternity leave, to watch their kid's soccer game, for school meetings, to serve in the military or the local volunteer fire department. The list is endless. Let's begin by discussing the laws that affect vacation and sick pay leave benefits. Under federal law, vacation and sick pay agreements are left up to negotiation between the employer and the employee. However, many states have specific laws related to the granting and accrual of these benefits. Regardless of the state you're in, you want to find out if employees may accrue vacation or sick leave, meaning once it's earned, they get paid out on it whether they are fired or quit. In many states, employees can't forfeit any of their earned vacation at the time of termination and would have to be paid out for it. In other states, it all depends on the agreement between the company and the employee, which is usually found in the employee handbook. Expanding sick pay coverage has been on the agenda of many legislators. That includes those at the municipal level. San Francisco has one of the first mandatory sick pay law requirements. Now many states and cities do, as well. Most companies will set forth their leave, vacation, paid time off, sick pay, and other benefits, in their employee handbook. Know the procedures employees and managers must follow. For example, when employees request time off for medical leave, disability accommodation, or similar purposes, many company policies require the employee to use any available sick or vacation pay. While it may be frustrating when employees request leave, especially at the wrong time, know your company's policy so you can give accurate answers to employee questions.

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