December 2024 Iowa Q&A roundup

Q       We have an employee who took four days off to tend to his daughter in the hospital after she received a C-section and another who wants to take three weeks off to assist her sibling going through chemotherapy. Would the absences in both scenarios fall under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)?

Not necessarily. The issue for adult children who are capable of self-care is the concern for activities of daily living. Is either child incapable of activities of daily living, such as driving to appointments, general self-care, etc.? The other issue is that a parent could be certified to provide emotional support if there’s a need for such support, but it would need to be listed on the FMLA forms.

Q       Our employees drive vehicles strictly for work purposes, but we don’t have a policy on such use. After employees received several speeding tickets, we’d like to introduce a policy that would allow management to deduct the cost of tickets from employees’ wages. Are we allowed to start introducing this type of payroll deduction?