An employee's mandatory overtime should be included in calculating the employee's total FMLA-leave allotment. This was the conclusion of the U.S. Court of Appeals recently in its case, Hernandez v. Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations.
The Court also addressed what to do when, as is not unusual, the employee's number of overtime hours varied from week to week: use the weekly average of the hours scheduled over the 12 months prior to the beginning of the leave period.
Lexington, Kentucky FMLA lawyer Robert Abell represents employees with regard to their FMLA leave and rights; contact him at 859-254-7076.
