Current Headlines

Transit Agency Sees $2 Million Fiscal Hit from FMLA Leaves

February 1, 2008

TAMPA, FL - Unscheduled absences at Hillsborough County's 693-employee transit organization known as HART are climbing and far outnumber the levels at comparable public agencies. creating a tough work force planning environment for managers and a $2.1 million burden for its fiscal support system.

At the heart of the problem is a clause in the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that allows intermittent leave for chronic illnesses. Forty-two percent of HART's 364 bus drivers have filed for intermittent FMLA, said Ed Crawford, government affairs officer.

Other government agencies have a much lower percentage of workers qualified for intermittent FMLA leave, and even fewer absent. At the Manatee County Clerk of Court, just 2.5 percent, or eight of 310 workers have filed for intermittent FMLA leave.

HART executives are being forced to budget 18 percent more drivers to cover the daily workload. Those extra drivers report to work and wait for assignments to cover workers who call in sick. Unscheduled absenteeism is on the rise among the drivers, up 34 percent since 2005. Nearly 40 percent of the HART bus driver absenteeism is a result of workers claiming intermittent time off under the Family Medical Leave Act.

Crawford said the intermittent FMLA plays havoc with the system, and if supervisors had two weeks notice for workers intending to take FMLA leave, they could plan around the missing worker. But without notice, HART is forced to cover driver shifts with other workers on overtime.

If workers take a day here and a day there, it takes a while to use up the 12 weeks, said Wendy Smith, an attorney with Fisher Phillips employment law firm. "Most of my clients are non-union, and they also struggle with this," she said. "Intermittent leave is the biggest problem with the FMLA law."

Back