Reinstatement
Under most circumstances, upon return from family/medical leave, an employee will be reinstated to his or her original job or to an equivalent job with equivalent pay, benefits, and other employment terms and conditions. However, an employee has no greater right to reinstatement than if he or she had been continuously employed rather than on leave. For example, if an employee on family/medical leave would have been laid off had he or she not gone on leave, or if the employee’s job is eliminated during the leave and no equivalent or comparable job is available, then the employee would not be entitled to reinstatement. In addition, an employee’s use of family/medical leave will not result in the loss of any employment benefit that the employee earned before using family/medical leave.
Reinstatement after family/medical leave may be denied to certain salaried “key” employees under the following conditions:
- An employee requesting reinstatement was among the highest-paid 10 percent of salaried employees employed within 75 miles of the worksite at which the employee worked at the time of the leave request;
- The refusal to reinstate is necessary because reinstatement would cause substantial and grievous economic injury to the Company’s operations;
- The employee is notified of the Company’s intent to refuse reinstatement at the time the Company determines the refusal is necessary; and
- If leave has already begun, the Company gives the employee a reasonable opportunity to return to work following the notice described previously.