Lit Task 1 (Lit1 310.1.5-02, 11, 13)

The human resources department at Company X has been asked to review three situations in which the senior vice-president of operations of Company X would like to ensure compliance with federal law. The situations reviewed pertain to discrimination in hiring and employment. The purpose of this report is to review provisions of applicable federal acts, apply the provisions to each situation, and determine whether or not federal law has been violated.

Employee A recently took a leave of absence that was covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). The FMLA guarantees an unpaid leave of absence to eligible employees of covered employers for specific family and medical reasons. Using a fact sheet provided by the U.S. Department of Labor (n.d.), this report will cover several provisions of the FMLA as they apply to this Employee A’s situation:

* A covered employer is a private-sector employer with fifty or more employees, with twenty or more workweeks in the current or preceding year. Since Company X employs over 75 individuals, it is covered under the FMLA.

* Eligible employees are covered if they have worked for an employer for at least 12 months, for at least 1,250 hours of service during the 12 months preceding the leave. Since Employee A has been employed by Company X for two years, he is eligible to take leave under the FMLA.

* The FMLA entitles eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks for specified reasons, in this case being the birth of children. After the allowed leave, the FMLA guarantees job and benefits restoration, in which the employee retains the original job, pay, and benefits as before the leave of absence.

Employee A’s leave lasted 11 weeks, after which he was restored to his previous job and the same rate of pay. The issue is that Employee A was expected to be paid during the leave. The FMLA, however, does not entitle eligible employees to be paid during their FMLA covered leave of absences. As such, this department’s...