In a recent USA Today survey, 35% of respondents had access to remote work. As a small business owner, it’s important to understand FMLA for remote employees. While FMLA for small businesses is generally the same for remote and non-remote workers, there are a few key details that you should understand. With the FMLA cheat sheet, you can make sure that you are giving FMLA-eligible employees the unpaid leave they need.

FMLA for Small Businesses

The rules for FMLA for small businesses kick in when you have 50 employees within a 75-mile radius. If you have 50 employees distributed across the country, then the FMLA doesn’t apply. Additionally, you have to have 50 employees on your payroll for at least 20 weeks out of the last year. You can essentially look at your payroll to see how many employees you have each week and see if you must follow the FMLA.

How to Handle FMLA for Remote Employees

For the most part, you can treat your remote workers like you treat your other employees. When someone is initially hired at your company, you should walk them through their FMLA rights and responsibilities notice during training. You also must cover the FMLA’s general notice about the law’s rules and benefits.

If an employee requests leave, you can ask them for a medical certification. Like any other HR activity, you should treat all of your employees in the same way. For example, you should ask every employee for a medical certification from their provider. If you don’t treat each worker the same, it can open you up to potential lawsuits later on.

Because remote workers may not come into the office at all, you may need to figure out an appropriate time-tracking mechanism if they take part-time leave. Workers aren’t required to take entire weeks off, so they may request a portion of a day or several days in a row off to handle their medical ailment. For remote workers, you will need to use a digital calendar or time-tracking platform to record the leave dates and amount. Employees are only provided 12 weeks of leave in a rolling 12-month period, so it’s important to track the leave dates carefully.

Create an FMLA Leave Policy for Remote Workers

To use FMLA for remote employees, you should start by incorporating FMLA notifications and training into your remote onboarding materials. Then, you should calculate which locations and workers are eligible for FMLA leave. As a part of this process, you will need to make sure that each remote worker is assigned to a specific site as their home base.

Even if they never go to the site in person, they are still counted as employed at a single location for FMLA purposes. If the remote worker is at home 100% or works from many locations, you can determine their home base by looking at their manager’s locations and the location where their assignments are handed out.

Remote employees must receive the same notifications and training as in-person workers. In particular, you are required to use an FMLA poster, add a notice to the employee handbook, and give workers an eligibility notice. Along with the eligibility notice, you must also give employees a notice about their rights and responsibilities.

Post the FMLA Poster

The first thing you must do is post an FMLA poster from the United States Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Remote workers don’t go to a job site, so you can alternatively post this somewhere that they have access to and show them where it is. You are allowed to post this notice digitally if your employees are exclusively remote, normally receive notifications digitally, and have readily available access to the poster at all times.

Provide FMLA Information in Your Employee Handbook

When you create your employee handbook, it is important to incorporate FMLA materials. You must give employees the same information that is included in the FMLA poster. This information can be provided in a handout or in the employee handbook.

Give Eligibility Notices

Part of using FMLA for small businesses involves creating eligibility notices. When an employee submits their first application for FMLA, you must give them an eligibility notice that states whether they are eligible or not. You must tell them why they aren’t eligible if they don’t qualify for leave. Once the employee turns in their request, you only have five days to give them an eligibility notice.

Provide Employees With Their Rights and Responsibilities

If an employee requests leave, you must provide them with a rights and responsibilities notice at the same time as you give them their eligibility notice. You can easily use the Department of Labor’s notice to satisfy this legal requirement.

FMLA Cheat Sheet: The Most Important Things to Remember

To simplify using the FMLA in your workplace, we have compiled an easy FMLA cheat sheet that your workplace can adopt to make sure it is in compliance with this act.

• Incorporate FMLA Procedures Into Onboarding: One way to make sure you’re compliant is by implementing FMLA procedures into your onboarding process. For example, the FMLA notification poster and information on how FMLA works should be included in the employee handbook or given out separately during onboarding.
• Remember Covered Conditions: Caregivers can take FMLA if they adopt, foster, or give birth to a new child. Employees can also use leave for a serious mental or physical condition. Additionally, they can also take time off if a spouse, parent, or child has a serious condition.
• Request Medical Certification: The FMLA allows you to ask employees to get their medical provider to certify their FMLA-qualified illness. If you request medical certification, you must give your employees at least 15 calendar days to return it to you.
• Track the Home Base for Your Remote Workers: FMLA for remote employees is based on how many workers are at their home base. If the remote worker is operating out of an office that has 50 employees or more, they can get FMLA leave.
• Give 12 Weeks of FMLA Leave: If a worker qualifies for FMLA leave, they get a maximum of 12 weeks in a rolling 12-month period. Military caregivers are allowed up to 26 weeks in a calendar year.
• Provide Proper Notifications: The previous list of notifications, like eligibility notices and FMLA posters, are legal requirements that your business should incorporate into its normal HR procedures.

Learn More About How Small Businesses Can Adopt FMLA Requirements

Whether you need FMLA for remote employees or for your in-person workers, there are important legal requirements you need to understand. To learn more about FMLA for small businesses, reach out to Asure’s HR and payroll experts today.