Everyone needs to take time off work from time to time, whether it’s to recover from an illness, to care for a loved one, or for undisclosed personal reasons. As an employer, you have some say in how employees use their leave entitlements, as long as you comply with all applicable state and federal leave laws.
Having a formal leave of absence policy helps you apply your guidelines fairly and consistently, and supports your human resources team in fielding various types of leave of absence requests. Here’s everything that should go into your leave of absence policy and best practices for absence management.
What Is a Leave of Absence Policy?
A leave of absence (LoA) policy is a document that outlines your rules and procedures around providing an employee leave of absence. It helps to guide employees through the leave of absence process and serves as a reference for your human resources team.
A leave of absence policy should include details such as:
- What types of leave are available
- Leave eligibility requirements
- Whether leave is paid or unpaid
- How employees can submit a leave of absence request
Some aspects of your leave of absence policy will be determined by state or federal law. For example, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires covered employers to provide up to 12 workweeks of job-protected leave in a 12-month period.
However, you might choose to provide additional leave benefits, such as paid parental leave or sabbatical leave, as a means of attracting and retaining top talent.
Types of Leave to Include in an LoA Policy
When an employee requests leave, they may not know which category their leave request falls into. Make it easy on them by including an explanation of each type of leave in your employee handbook or guide to company policies.
- Family and medical leave: This type of leave is usually covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act and provides time off for an employee to address their own serious health condition or to care for an immediate family member. FMLA leave is unpaid, but some state laws provide for paid family leave or paid sick leave.
- Disability leave: Disability leave may refer to short-term disability leave, as well as unpaid leave under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which provides an option for leave as a reasonable accommodation.
- Military leave: Military leave includes time off for military service or to care for an active duty or a retired service member with a serious medical condition.
- Personal leave: Your personal leave of absence policy should cover things like vacation time, paid time off (PTO), jury duty, and sabbatical leave.
Who Can Take a Leave of Absence?
Some types of leave have clear eligibility criteria under employment law. For example, the FMLA applies to both full-time and part-time employees but only if those employees have worked for your company for a minimum length of time.
For other types of leave, you can set your own eligibility criteria. For example, maybe you only offer sabbatical leave to full-time employees who have worked with you for five years or more. The important thing is to apply your criteria to all employees equally.
How Do Employees Request a Leave of Absence?
In general, employees are required to give their employer advance notice of their leave request — unless they need to take leave for urgent medical reasons. When you use a leave management platform like Pulpstream, you make it easy for employees to submit their own leave requests online.
Even so, employees aren’t required to submit a FMLA leave request in writing, and in fact, they don’t need to use the term “FMLA” at all. It’s your job as an employer to determine if they qualify for FMLA leave or another approved leave category.
Eligible employees are allowed to keep their health insurance while they’re on FMLA leave, and they’re entitled to reinstatement in the same job or an equivalent position when their leave is over.
6 Best Practices for Leave of Absence Management
A leave of absence policy isn’t just for HR compliance — it also helps you plan ahead for an employee’s absence by streamlining and facilitating their request. Here are six best practices to make it a seamless process for your HR team:
1. Explain your LoA policy as part of the onboarding process
First, share your leave of absence policy with all new hires and incorporate it into your onboarding training program. This way, employees will know how a leave of absence works at your organization and understand what types of leave they might be eligible for.
They can also figure out their leave entitlements at the beginning of their employment. Then, when an issue arises, employees will be able to request time off and determine how much leave they have remaining. In addition, in many situations, they’ll be able to plan ahead and give you advance notice of their intent to take leave.
2. Promptly approve or deny requests
You don’t have to accommodate every leave request, but if you intend to deny one, you should have a valid reason for doing so. Consider using leave of absence automation to automatically determine if a leave request is covered by law.
If an employee requests FMLA leave, you need to let them know within five business days whether or not their reason for the leave is FMLA-protected. You can also request additional information like a medical certification if you need it to confirm their eligibility for leave.
3. Distinguish between leave and remote work
As more and more employees work remotely, it can sometimes be hard to draw the line between a work-from-home arrangement and a leave of absence. After all, doing some work while on a leave of absence isn’t prohibited, as long as the employee does so voluntarily.
Even under the ADA, both a leave of absence and a flexible work arrangement can be considered reasonable accommodations for a disability.
Having a separate remote work policy can help you make a distinction between the two and ensure that you don’t violate an employee’s rights while they’re on leave.
4. Track leave balances
Leave of absence tracking is a key component of any leave of absence policy. You need to know how many hours an employee has worked in order to track their accrued leave balance, and you need to know how much of their leave they’ve used up.
Using an employee attendance tracker like Pulpstream helps you stay on top of every leave request, including complex cases like employees who need to take intermittent FMLA leave.
5. Be proactive about absenteeism
Finally, be aware of the potential for FMLA abuse and excessive leave requests. While valid leave requests should always be honored whenever possible, if employees seem to be taking advantage, it can be a sign that they’re experiencing burnout or an unhealthy workplace culture.
Be on the lookout for absenteeism in the workplace, and find out if there’s anything you can do to improve your employees’ mental health or work-life balance.
6. Periodically review and update your LoA policy
State laws, and less often federal laws, regarding leave can change, and so it’s crucial to stay on top of the latest developments in order to remain compliant. In addition, you may want to make alterations to your current policy based on feedback you receive from employees.
If you make any changes to your leave of absence policy, it’s essential to inform employees through multiple channels to ensure that everyone is aware. For example, you can send out an email, post a message on the company intranet or a workplace messaging app, and ask managers to check if their direct reports have any questions. If it’s a substantial change, you’ll likely want to hold an all-company meeting with an opportunity for employees to ask questions, and make sure employees know who in human resources to contact if they have more questions later.
Standardize Your Leave of Absence Policy With Pulpstream
Every leave of absence request is different, but letting individual managers handle these requests on their own can lead to compliance issues and inconsistencies. Having a standardized leave of absence policy saves time and money by ensuring that your employees understand their leave entitlements, your managers know what to do in various situations, and your HR team adheres to relevant employment law.
Pulpstream’s no-code platform facilitates leave of absence requests with a self-service portal that employees can access online. Your HR team can approve leave requests, ask for more information, and track leave balances all in one place.
Pulpstream can turn an 8-hour leave management process into an efficient 15-minute task. Request a demo today to find out how!
