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Set up a charting system to track multiple leaves, says Southard, who is the founder of leave management firm Work & Well, and is principal of Southard Consulting in Somerville, NJ. Her remarks came at SHRM's Annual Conference & Exposition, held recently in Las Vegas.

FMLA Tracking Scenario #1

The facts:

• A Wisconsin employee is pregnant
• Her estimated due date is  5/18/11
• Her 1st day out-of-work is 4/21/11
• Her C-section is performed on 5/11/11
• Wisconsin state family leave act allows up to 10 wks in calendar year, 6 weeks baby-bonding, 2 weeks for self, and 2 weeks as a caregiver

* Baby-bonding leave can't start until employee no longer has a disability

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FMLA Tracking Scenario #2

The facts:

• A Connecticut employee works a normal 8 hours a day, 5 days a week job.
• She opens an intermittent FMLA case for herself as of 1/1/11, and is approved for 1 year.
• She takes 10 days of intermittent leave between 1/1/11 and 4/1/11
• On 4/1/11, she opens a new straight case for care of her mother-in-law.
• Connecticut family leave allows 16 weeks of leave in 24 months for self or as a caregiver, including parent-in-law. It runs concurrent with FMLA

Note: Federal leave does not run during the 14 weeks because federal FMLA does not cover mother-in-laws, but Connecticut FLA does.

Southard points out another situation that often trips up employers: the issue of bonding leave when both parents work for the same company. Say the wife takes 10 weeks of FMLA while having her child. She then takes 2 additional weeks for bonding, finishing her 12-week entitlement. At that point, her husband is entitled to 10 weeks bonding. His entitlement is limited because only a total of 12 weeks of bonding is available when both spouses work for the same company.

Managing leave is never an easy job, but there is a good way to make it easier—clearly-written policies. Actually, our editors estimate that for most companies, there are 50 or so policies that need regular updating (or maybe need to be written). It's easy to let it slide, but you can't afford to—your policies are your only hope for consistent and compliant management that avoids lawsuits.

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