Are Remote Workers Eligible for FMLA?
Posted September 25, 2018 by Megan DiMartino
With the ever-growing population of telecommuting employees comes the question if they’re eligible for FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act). Most believe that telecommuters can’t qualify for FMLA because they are usually not within proximity of 49 other company employees within a 75-mile radius of a company worksite. But Section 825.111(a)(2) of the FMLA regulations clears up how to determine whether 50 employees are employed within a 75-mile radius of a worksite:- An employee’s personal residence is not a worksite in the case of employees, such as salespersons, who travel a sales territory and who generally leave to work and return from work to their personal residence, or employees who work at home, as under the concept of flexiplace or telecommuting. Rather, their worksite is the office to which they report and from which assignments are made.
For example, a company based out of Harrisburg, PA has 49 employees and also has an at-home employee who works from Chicago, IL. The at-home employee still gets their assignments from the main headquarters in Harrisburg,so under FMLA, their worksite is Harrisburg and qualifies them for FMLA.
There are also special regulations for employees who have no fixed worksite, such as construction workers. In that situation, the worksite is the site to which the employee is assigned as their home base, or from which their work is assigned, or to which they report. FMLA has provided an example for such situation:
- [I]f a construction company headquartered in New Jersey opened a construction site in Ohio, and set up a mobile trailer on the construction site as the company’s on-site office, the construction site in Ohio would be the worksite for any employees hired locally who report to the mobile trailer/company office daily for work assignments, etc. If that construction company also sent personnel such as job superintendents, foreman, engineers, an office manager, etc., from New Jersey to the job site in Ohio, those workers sent from New Jersey continue to have the headquarters in New Jersey as their worksite. The workers who have New Jersey as their worksite would not be counted in determining eligibility of employees whose home base is the Ohio worksite, but would be counted in determining eligibility of employees whose home base is New Jersey.
Source: Jackson Lewis | The Devil Is in the Detail – FMLA Eligibility and Remote Workers
For more information, contact info@apbenefitadvisors.com. The information contained in this post, and any attachments, is not intended and should not be misconstrued as legal advice. You should contact your employment, benefits or ERISA attorney for legal direction.
New FMLA Forms from the DOL
Posted September 17, 2018 by Megan DiMartino
The Department of Labor (DOL) has released new Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Forms – which the only thing that has changed is the expiration date. In the upper-right hand corner of the forms you’ll notice it now reads, “Expires: 8/31/2021.”
Links to the PDF forms:
- WH-380-E Certification of Health Care Provider for Employee’s Serious Health Condition
- WH-380-F Certification of Health Care Provider for Family Member’s Serious Health Condition
- WH-381 Notice of Eligibility and Rights & Responsibilities
- WH-382 Designation Notice
- WH-384 Certification of Qualifying Exigency for Military Family Leave
- WH-385 Certification of Serious Injury or Illness of Current Servicemember – for Military Family Leave
- WH-385-V Certification for Serious Injury or Illness of a Veteran for Military Caregiver Leave
HRCI & SHRM Pre-Approved Webinar | J-Codes: Your Healthcare Plan’s Biggest Enemy
Posted September 13, 2018 by Megan DiMartino
“J-Codes” and “medical specialty pharmacy” claims are going to be one of the top two procedure categories in terms of cost within your health plan. Knowing the amount of waste and abuse can give you insight into how you can develop strategies to drive more cost-effective utilization of the plan, and even enhance the benefits to the plan members for that efficient behavior. By identifying these specific issues within your plan and implementing targeted, value-based strategies to address them, you could eliminate tremendous costs without any adverse effects to your population.
Please join us for this HRCI* and SHRM** pre-approved, complimentary, one-hour webinar as our Director of Data Analytics, Scott Mayer, talks about the financial perils and pitfalls of “J-Codes” within an employer-sponsored health plan, and how the power of data can unlock the secrets to managing its spend.
Topics include:
- What J-Codes are, how they differ from pharmacy claims, and how plans bill for them
- How providers negotiate reimbursements through the medical benefit and how if differs from the pharmacy benefit
- The role of channel management, site of care, manufacturer assistance programs and others
Webinar Details:
- Thursday, September 27, 2018
- 2:00pm – 3:00pm EDT
- No cost to attend
- This webinar is open to all HR and Finance Professionals – but not to brokers, agents, TPAs and PEOs
*The use of this seal confirms that this activity has met HR Certification Institute’s® (HRCI®) criteria for recertification credit pre-approval.
**AP Benefit Advisors, LLC is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP. This program is valid for 1 PDC for the SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP. For more information about certification or recertification, please visit shrmcertification.org.
