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Hurricane Harvey And The FMLA: Are Your Employees Eligible For Leave During A Natural Disaster?

Hurricane Harvey And The FMLA: Are Your Employees Eligible For Leave During A Natural Disaster?
by Jeff Nowak

Natural disasters like Hurricane Harvey—which has devastated Houston and southeast Texas—raise a host of issues for employers, including questions about an employer's obligation to provide a leave of absence to employees under laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Here are a few general points to consider as we're confronted with natural disasters:

• The FMLA does not, in itself, require employers to give employees time off to attend to personal matters arising out of a natural disaster, such as cleaning a flood-damaged basement, salvaging belongings, or searching for missing relatives. Case in point: poor Joe Lane, whose FMLA lawsuit was dismissed after he sought FMLA leave, in part, to clean up his mom's flooded basement because her health conditions precluded her from doing so.
• However, an employee would qualify for FMLA leave when, as a result of a natural disaster, the employee suffers a physical or mental illness or injury that meets the definition of a "serious health condition" and renders them unable to perform their job, or the employee is required to care for a spouse, child or parent with a serious health condition who is affected by the natural disaster. Some examples might include the following:

1. As a result of the natural disaster, an employee's chronic condition (such as stress, anxiety or soaring blood pressure) flares up, rendering them unable to perform their job. Where the medical certification supports the need for leave as a result of the natural disaster, FMLA leave is in play.
2. An employee is required to care for a family member with a serious health condition for a reason connected with the natural disaster. Take, for instance, an employee's parent who suffers from diabetes. If the event took out power to the parent's home, the employee may need to help administer the parent's medication, which must be refrigerated. Similarly, the employee may need to assist a family member when their medical equipment is not operating because of a power outage.

Read full article on SHRM.