W6: HR Policies and Procedures

Medical Leave Case Scenario
 
Julie Rice works for a computer company where she has been employed for four years as a lead supervisor. During the past two years Julie’s mother has needed frequent medical attention for her diabetes. Being an only child, Julie has helped her mother as often as her work schedule would allow. Unfortunately during the past two years, her mother’s condition has worsened.
 
Julie asked the firm for and was granted an unpaid leave to care for her mother in accordance with FMLA and company policy. The agreement stated that Julie could miss work every Friday for 60 weeks rather than taking time off 12 straight weeks. At the end of the 60 weeks Julie returned to work full time and immediately began missing work to care for her mother until all of her allotted vacation and sick leave were exhausted. She then asked that her Friday leave be extended indefinitely because her mother’s condition remained serious and she required ongoing assistance.
 
The HR director was uncertain what the response should be. The firm needed Julie to be at work regularly because of the increasingly heavy workload, the fact that her job duties were critical and because other supervisors and employees preferred not to have to cover for her. On the other hand Julie was an excellent supervisor and had worked for four years at this company. In addition everyone was concerned about Julie and her mother’s welfare and wanted to support them.
 
The policy manual reads as follows:
Employees who have worked for at least one year and worked 1,250 hours during the 12 months period preceding the commencement of the leave year are eligible to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid job protected leave for one or more of the following reasons:
 
Birth of a son or daughter of employee and to care for such son/daughter; placement of a son/daughter with employee for adoption or foster care; care for spouse, son, daughter, or parent of employee if said person has a serious health condition; or a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform function of the position of such employee.
 
1.Imagine you are an HR consultant to the organization involved in this situation. The organization wants to be responsive and fair. What do you recommend?

Discussion Guidelines

What is the purpose of a discussion ?

Think of the discussion as a classroom experience where you “meet” with your instructor and peers to discuss the weekly topic in terms of the readings, assignments and resources that have been assigned.  The desired outcome is that you are able to (1) collaborate with peers and the instructor, (2) demonstrate your understanding of the material, and (3) participate as a member of an online community.

What are the responsibilities of the instructor?

The instructor’s goal is to create an engaging and safe environment for students to learn.  In addition, instructors should pose questions promoting deeper thought as well as encourage students to interact with their peers in the classroom.  There should be an active instructor presence throughout the week.

What are the responsibilities of the student?

Each week, you are required to make an initial posting and respond to a minimum of 2 students.  Responses should be a substantive and include direct questions.  Please review the discussion grading rubrics in order to understand how your responses in the discussion will be graded. 

 If you met the above-mentioned requirements, you will be graded at the proficient level.  However, if your desire is to be graded at the exemplary level, please provide more than what is required.  To receive 100% as a grade (the exemplary level) for the weekly discussions , you should ensure that your responses meet the following criterion:

Critical Analysis – Discussion postings display an excellent understanding of the required readings and underlying concepts including correct use of terminology. Postings are made in time for others to read and respond as well as deliver information that is full of thought, insight, and analysis. The information presented makes connection to previous or current content or to real-life situations, and must contain rich and fully developed new ideas, connections, or applications. (It is important that you integrate the weekly readings in your response. One way to do that is to make position statements, then discuss supporting evidence (i.e. research and/or personal experience). APA citations are not required. However, if you use an outside source, make reference in some manner to that source just as you would in a verbal conversation.

Participation as a Member of the Learning Community – Discussion postings actively stimulate and sustain further discussion by building on peers’  responses including building a focused argument around a specific issue or asking a new related question or making an oppositional statement supported by personal experience or related research. (Please plan your time wisely.  Your responses should encourage your peers to respond to your postings and build the foundation for the class to review and discuss your initial posting.  It’s important that you meet the Thursday deadline for your initial posting so that others can respond.  Having all of your work in before Sunday afternoon allows your peers to provide comments to your feedback and strengthens your ability to participate as a member of the weekly learning community discussions.)

Professional Communication and Etiquette – Written interactions on the discussion board show respect and sensitivity to peers’ background and beliefs (Regardless of the position you are taking, please ensure that your participation comments are respectful to your peers’ background and beliefs).

Writing Skills – Written responses are free of grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.  The style of writing facilitates communication. (Make sure your work is free of errors.  If there are any errors as outlined above, you will not receive 100% for the discussion).