Here is some wise counsel from a session featuring
FMLA Insights founder Jeff Nowak and EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum as reported in
HR Morning by Tim Gould:
[O]nly conducting the undue hardship analysis after an employee has already exhausted his or her FMLA leave [is a mistake]. ...[B]usinesses can assess whether additional leave will present an “undue hardship” on “day one” of an employee’s FMLA leave. And to present a solid case for undue hardship, they should probably be doing just that. ...
[T]he specific factors that can help an employer deny additional leave as a reasonable accommodation ... include...:
- Significant losses in productivity because work is completed by less effective, temporary workers or last-minute substitutes, or overtired, overburdened employees working OT who may be slower and more susceptible to error
- Lower quality and less accountability for quality
- Less responsive customer service and increased customer dissatisfaction
- Increased burden on management staff required to find replacement workers, or readjust workflow or readjust priorities in light of absent employees, and
- Increased stress on overburdened co-workers.
