How To Track FMLA Leave Usage and Balance
Click Here to Review Recorded Webinar on Tracking Leave
Manage Employees’ Leaves
Managing each employee’s FMLA leave can be a daunting and complex task, especially when the leave involves the use of intermittent leave for a chronic condition, permanent/long-term conditions, or multiple treatments for non-chronic conditions. In addition, if leave is for a block of time, the leave start and end dates may change (e.g., for the anticipated birth or placement of a child, surgery date, recovery period, etc.).
• Manage anticipated/actual start dates and return to work dates: If an employee informs you that their anticipated leave start date or return to work date has changed (or the actual start date or changes), access the employee’s current EFI Profile and edit the date(s) as needed by clicking on the ‘Edit Employee Profile’ button.
• Enter notes into the NotePad to document conversation(s), communication(s) with a healthcare provider, or other information related to the employee’s leave (e.g., that an employee’s return to work date has changed).
View the EFI Report - List of Employees on Leave
On a regular basis (weekly, if not several times each week, depending on the size of your organization), click on “Employee Reports” from the Main Menu
Then click on “EFI Report” to view and monitor the status of information each employee’s open EFI Profiles, such as eligibility for federal FMLA and any applicable state family/medical leave, certification due dates and whether the applicable certification has been received, leave start and anticipated return-to-work dates, and whether the employee has returned to work. Each of the columns can be sorted in order or reverse order by clicking on the arrows in any of the column headings. In addition, you can download this report into CVS or PDF format.
Note: When downloading this report, each employee’s Department/Role and work Location
will be included on the downloaded report.
Employee Reminder Report:
Send Certification Due Reminders
Send Return to Work Reminders
Periodically, (e.g., once or twice a week, or more often based on the number of employees with open EFI’s), click on “Employee Reports” and then click on “Employee Reminder Report.”
• Select “All” from the “Show” dropdown list above the Employee Name column.
Send Medical Certification Due Reminder: Click on the arrow in the “Cert Due Date” column to sort in chronological order. Click on the arrow again to sort in inverse chronological order.
• Click Send to email each employee whose certification is past the due date or about to be due.
Send Return To Work Reminder: Click on the arrow in the “Email RTW Reminder” column to sort in chronological order. Click on the arrow again to sort in inverse chronological order.
• Click Send to email a reminder to each employee whose return to work is approaching or overdue.
Note: Each time a reminder is sent to an employee, the date on which the reminder is emailed is tracked in the employee's EFI Profile and can be viewed by clicking on the “Email History” button.
Past Due & Future Due: The text and tense in the email the employee receives changes based on whether the due date is in the future or in the past.
Note: eFMLA recommends sending just one certification due reminder to an employee (not two or more reminders).
Track Leave Usage for FMLA and Non-FMLA Leave
• From the employee’s EFI Profile, click on the “Track Leave” button under the Notepad.
The screen below will appear. To enter a block of leave, reduced schedule or intermittent FMLA leave, click “Enter a block or Intermittent Leave”. To enter a day or partial day of FMLA or non-FMLA leave, click on “Enter a Day of Less of Leave” button.
1. Enter the number of daily scheduled work hours the employee will be (or was) on leave during most of the leave period (e.g., a full workday might be 7 hours, 7 hours and 30 minutes or 8 hours, and a half workday might be 3 hours and 30 minutes or 4 hours for reduced schedule leave).
Note: Full weeks or more during which the employer’s operations have ceased (e.g., during the
Christmas holidays or spring break for a school system) can be deselected from the calendar after clicking on the “View Results” button in Step 5. In addition, individual variations in the number of daily leave hours or concurrent leave type can be adjusted at a later stage of this process. Conversely, you can enter two separate blocks of leave if the break is lengthy (e.g., semester break for a university or summer break for any educational system).
2. Select the type of concurrent leave type that an employee will use for all or most of the from the dropdown menu.
Note: Individual variations in the concurrent leave type can be adjusted at a later stage of this process. Leave also may be designated as “Non-FMLA leave” at a later stage of this process (e.g., for leave that extends beyond the 12-week FMLA leave entitlement period or for an employee who does not meet the FMLA eligibility criteria).
3. Enter the start and end dates for the leave for a continuous block of leave or reduced schedule eave. If entering multiple intermittent leave dates taken during a particular week or several weeks, enter the same date for the start and end dates. Additional intermittent leave dates can be selected from the calendar at the next step of the process.
4. Check the box next to “Include Weekends” only if the employee is scheduled to work on weekends.
5. Click the “View Results” button. A calendar will pop up with the selected start and end dates (and all dates in between) highlighted in blue. You can click on any date to add or delete the date as one on which the employee is taking (or took) leave. For example, you can deselect a week or more of leave dates to account for a shutdown during the holiday season or spring break.
6. Click the “Submit Results” button.
On this screen, you can fine tune the details of the days off.
(a) designate a date, multiple dates, or “Select All” dates of leave on the list as “Non-FMLA” leave;
(b) change the amount of leave time on any particular date or multiple dates; and/or
(c) change the concurrent leave type for one or more dates listed.
Last: Finalize Dates:
After making any needed changes on the above screen, click the “Finalize Dates” button at the bottom of the screen. You will see the total number of hours of FMLA leave remaining, the total number of hours of FMLA leave used, and the total number of hours of FMLA leave and non-FMLA leave combined, along with the daily usage of leave. This screen will update on a daily basis based on your 12-month calculation method.