Employee helping mom care for dad raises FMLA quandary

Q         An employee's dad is being flown to another hospital for COVID-19 treatment. She needs to drive her mom to the new hospital and therefore will miss at least one day of work. Would her time off qualify as Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave, assuming she’s otherwise eligible for and has FMLA leave remaining?

A   Absent additional information indicating the employee is needed to “care for” the father (including providing psychological comfort), she wouldn’t appear to qualify for FMLA leave.

The FMLA provides time off for an eligible employee to care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition. The employee’s father is her immediate family member, and providing care can include providing psychological comfort. Even assuming the father’s underlying COVID-19 condition is a serious health condition (the fact he is being transferred from one hospital to another suggests it is), there’s no indication the daughter is needed to care for him.

That said, the best answer here is likely the practical one: Approve the one-day absence, and never hold it against the employee. The situation doesn’t appear to be a recurring issue, and approving a single missed day buys a lot of goodwill and avoids spending unnecessary time speaking to counsel.