Page 174 - Essentials of Payroll: Management and Accounting

Benefits
insurance, such as life and disability insurance, do not have to be main-
tained during the leave of absence.
Example. Samuel Lamont had a sick mother and took FMLA leave
from the Humble Pie Company in order to care for her. Prior to his

leave of absence, he paid $120 per month as his share of the cost of a
company-provided medical insurance plan. During the leave, the com-
pany changed the employee share of the insurance for all employees to
$160. Mr. Lamont concluded that he could not afford this additional
cost and stopped paying for his share of the insurance. The company
accordingly warned him in writing that coverage would be dropped,
and then did so after payment became 30 days overdue.When he returned

from leave, the company was required to restore his medical coverage.
Because of the large number of provisions of the FMLA and its
cost impact on both the employer and employee, it is recommended
that the employer fill out a formal, detailed response to a request for a
leave of absence, copies of which should go into the employee’s file as
well as to the employee. The Department of Labor has issued a sample
report that covers the key provisions of the FMLA,which is reproduced
in Exhibit 6.1. This form, Number WH-381, may be downloaded in
Acrobat PDF format from the Department of Labor’s web site at

www.dol.gov.
Upon returning from a leave of absence,an employee must be given
the same or equivalent job, with the same level of pay and benefits that
he or she had before the leave. However, no additional leave or seniority
accrues during the term of an employee’s leave of absence. In certain
cases, where job restoration would cause significant economic damage
to an employer, key positions will not be restored to returning employees.

A key position is defined as a salaried employee whose pay is in the top
10 percent of all employees.

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