Jonathan Hyman

Kohrman Jackson & Krantz PLL
Cleveland, Ohio
(216) 736-7226
www.KJK.com
jth@kjk.com

Jon concentrates his practice in the representation of companies in employment and labor disputes and counseling companies on various employment issues. He has written and lectured extensively on myriad employment law issues, including the FMLA, sexual harassment, discrimination, wage and hour issues, and background checks. He is also the author of the Ohio Employer’s Law Blog, where he publishes daily on employment and labor law issues.

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Q. We provide a perfect-attendance bonus to any employee who is not absent or tardy during the calendar year. If an employee’s only missed time is for a medical leave of absence, does the FMLA require us to nevertheless provide the perfect-attendance bonus?

A. No. Thanks to the recent regulatory changes to the FMLA, employers may now lawfully deny a perfect-attendance bonus to an employee whose only missed time is on account of FMLA leave.

While employers are now within their rights to deny perfect-attendance bonuses to employees who take FMLA leave, the bigger question is whether an employer would want to withhold such a bonus. Before implementing this policy change, consider the message it sends to your employees: We value you, but only if an unforeseen medical condition does not get in the way.