Executive summary of DDC Company Case Study Literature Case Study

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Executive Summary: Background: The New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) was formed in 1996 and its function was to combine the NYC Department of Transportation’s street construction, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection’s water main and sewer construction and the NYC Department of General Services’ massive building program which includes the construction of police, fire, and sanitation buildings, correctional facilities, libraries, cultural institutions, senior centers and other municipal structures. Since its inception, DDC has partnered with other City agencies to build infrastructure and public buildings throughout the City. The agency has evolved into the City’s primary capital construction management agency and is responsible to provide New Yorkers with buildings and services that are socially responsible and environmentally sound. DDC is overseen by a Commissioner that is appointed by the Mayor and consequently, there is a new Commissioner whenever there is a change in the City’s Administration. DDC is in Long Island City, Queens with field offices in Manhattan and Staten Island. The agency has approximately 1400 employees in which most of the staff work in technical titles in the Engineering and Architecture field. Since DDC is a capital-funded agency, the employees that work in technical titles bill their hours against capital projects so that the agency can continue to function. The agency has three technical divisions, Public Buildings, Safety and Site, and Infrastructure division. The public buildings division is responsible for structures above the ground while the Infrastructure division is responsible for underground projects. The Safety and Site division provides technical support to the Public Buildings and Infrastructure division with the handling of hazardous materials, environmental assessment and geographical services. The non-technical employees such as staff in the Human Resources, ITS and Budget divisions are a support system for the technical staff. Issue Analysis: Causes The use of FMLA has created many challenges and adverse effects for the NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC). The usage of FMLA is clearly being abused, but management does not want to enforce the usage. According to FMLA guidelines, employees must provide their employer with thirty days of advanced notice of their intended leave (DOL). However, many of DDC’s employees are submitting their FMLA leave requests either after they have returned from their leave, on the day of their leave begins or while the employee is on leave. In this example, the Payroll and Time Management Unit have three of their four timekeepers on approved intermittent FMLA. FMLA can be used consecutively or intermittently (DOL). According to employee’s A medical documentation, the employee would need to take a few days off from work every week, for up to three days due to sporadic pain from a knee/hip injury he experienced a few years ago. His medical documentation states that he must attend weekly physical therapy, however, the employee never never attends regularly. Employee A calls out sick, charging his leave to FMLA almost every Mondays, Fridays, and before and after a holiday. Every so often, the employee notifies his manager that he must leave early to attend physical therapy.This has been going on for the past five years. Employee B suffers from arthritis and according to her documentation, she can be out two times weekly for the next twelve months. Employee B documentation also states that she should attend physical therapy weekly which she never does. Employee B also calls out sick almost every Monday and sometimes on Fridays, charging her leave to FMLA. Employee B has maintained this schedule for the past four years and renews her leave on a yearly basis. Employee C has knee problems and according to her documentation, she can be out for up to two days weekly and should attend physical therapy two times weekly. Employee C attends physical therapy but not on a regular basis. In addition to leaving work two days weekly to attend physical therapy, she calls out almost every Friday charging her leave to FMLA. Employee C has been doing this for the past four years. In another example of FMLA abuse, Mr. John Smith provided documentation which states that the employee will need to arrive late for work every day because the employee is unable to sit or stand for prolonged periods. In this instance, the FMLA coordinator spoke to the employee's doctor to verify the diagnosis as it seemed unusual for a doctor to certify that the employee may need to arrive late to work every day because he is unable to sit or stand for long periods. He also disclosed that there is nothing physically wrong with the employee, except that he is very strong-willed and determined to get his way. As a result, the employee's request for intermittent FMLA was denied. A month later, the employee brought a revised certification from the same doctor, stating the same reasons for intermittent FMLA. In order not to violate the Family and Medical Leave Act, his leave was approved because the employee provided enough documentation upon his recertification. As shown in this example, Mr. John Smith submitted a request for intermittent FMLA to be absent from work for up to twenty-four instances and up to three days for each instance in twelve months due to a hip injury. He has been calling out from work almost every Monday and Fridays, charging his leave under the FMLA. His supervisor noticed a pattern that whenever there is an NBA or NFL game, the employee calls out the following day from work. After a discussion with his supervisor, the employee has been calling out from work in the middle of the week instead of Mondays and Fridays. Most recently, he has gone back to calling out from work on Mondays. Mr. Smith does not regularly attend physical therapy or does not have any medical procedures scheduled to improve his condition. Several attempts have been made to the FMLA Coordinator requesting that the employee provide additional medical documentation to support his FMLA usage. The FMLA Coordinator stated that the employee had provided enough medical documentation to support his absences. As per SHRM, "about four out of ten (39%) HR professionals stated that due to the Department of Labor regulations and interpretations, they have had to grant FMLA requests that they perceived to be illegitimate." All of Mr. Smith's leaves under the FMLA have been unscheduled and with no advanced notice. There are times when the employee has informed his manager that he must leave work early right before his scheduled physical therapy appointment. The manager claims that since this employee has a scheduled appointment, she should be given advance notice and not as the employee is about to leave for the day. This has been tolerated for the past five years by this employee and nothing has been done to limit or enforce the use of intermittent FMLA. Issue Analysis: Effects The Department of Design is faced with an abuse of FMLA because employees are using FMLA to their advantage. As a result, managers are forced to assign their workload to other employees or take on the additional responsibilities themselves. Since DDC has made no attempt to restrict the usage of FMLA, more and more employees are applying for intermittent FMLA. Employees are only required to provide medical documentation only when applying or recertifying their FMLA and so employees dictate their schedule. The abuse of FMLA has gotten to the point that managers are fed up and are either leaving the agency or requesting reassignments. Although the HR department approves FMLA, they do not monitor the usage as stated on the medical documentation provided by the employee. Agency heads do not want to address the problem because these employees are represented by unions and the agency does not want to appear that they are violating the employee’s right. Since the Human Resources department has made no attempt to restrict the abuse of FMLA, this has created another problem for the agency, absenteeism. Absenteeism is at an all-time high and the morale of the employees that must pick up the slack has been seen throughout the agency. Employees are unhappy because they are not being compensated for the additional tasks and so they are also leaving the agency. Through a general understanding of the background of the case, it can roughly locate the core problem in the NYC Department of Design and Construction. It is not difficult to find that the biggest problem with the FMLA is that as a federal law, many employees have abused this law to cause a series of adverse effects. While FMLA challenges the growth of the agency, it also creates resistance to improving work performance. For example, the typical cases studied in this article are an excellent example of the abuse of FMLA and the resulting harmful employee laziness, inefficiency, and damage to the fairness of the collective organization. The employee mentioned in the first case used the certification issued by the doctor so that he did not have any physical problems, but he could enjoy intermittent leave. In this case, the doctor's cooperation with the employee and the employee's insistence to prove that his body meets the requirements of the FMLA, and the lack of any action by the New York City government is the key to his ability to obtain intermittent leave. When an employee suffering from a severe illness cannot go to work on time, the company believes that retaining his position is also detrimental to the motivation of other employees. Regarding the analysis of the reasons for the abuse of FMLA in the case, it can roughly differ from employees and employers. In the first case, people usually think that the abuse of this bill is primarily because of the negative phenomenon that employees issued for the sake of private gain. Employees are in good health, but they can enjoy leave due to illness, which is also related to the lack of professional certification of doctors. To some extent, doctors are helping employees to make "false certificates". Secondly, the relevant managers (employers and relevant departments of the municipal government) also adopt a default attitude toward this. They tend to be more inclined to reduce trouble and do not want to violate federal laws so that they will agree to the employees' intermittent leave. Finally, people can discuss whether the impact of the abuse of FMLA is negative, which is as follows. The first point is that for employees themselves, some employees get intermittent leave in some unconventional ways, which will encourage their laziness and lose their true meaning and enthusiasm for their work. Some people enjoy FMLA intermittent leave through unique methods, which fundamentally violates the principle of fairness. Moreover, employers need to reserve positions for employees who have applied for leave for a long time, which will also lead to confusion in the division of labor. Employers need to bear the consequences of reduced productivity. Second, if there are multiple causes of the abuse of FMLA within a specific range, this will reduce the passion and loyalty of the entire work team. Also, managers will be in trouble because of the abuse of FMLA. On the one hand, they hope that the company can have higher work efficiency and continuously improved productivity. Therefore, the effectiveness of management will be significantly reduced. Finally, what people need to consider is that FMLA is a law that guarantees employees to enjoy proper treatment during illness. Still, because of the abuse of some people during the implementation process, the cases discussed above violate the original intention of FMLA implementation. The FMLA law provides employees with job-protected and unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reasons. Employers should evaluate, understand, and monitor the regulations for future FMLA carefully leave abuse patterns. Also, the employers must develop a policy within the guidelines of the regulations and take any action with the employee when it is necessary for a possible fraud of FMLA. Abuse of intermittent FMLA, unfortunately, has become a severe and frequent workplace interruption in many organizations, public or private. The FMLA's legal protections have been abused by some excessively aggressive workers who sometimes lack the necessary work ethic to meet the day to day challenges of the workplace. Today, many human resources professionals throw up their hands more times to show their frustration and discontent for all abuses and injustice that arises when suspected employees are taking advantage of intermittent FMLA. Alternatives There are some alternatives for the department to take action to stop those employees who abuse the intermittent FMLA. The first alternative can help the department hold employees accountable to the terms of the certification. If the employer has a reason to doubt the legitimacy of the absence, especially those who ask every Friday and Monday for absence patterns, taking leave to extend a holiday, or if the employee asks for an extension of the leave (Code Federal Regulation §825.308). The Human Resources Department can question the validity of medical certification and in some cases, the employer can contact the health care provider with the purpose to require a recertification process. With the doctor’s list, employer can verify and ensure the absences match with the medical condition in a short period no more than thirty days or within six months, to evaluate the condition of the employees depending on the circumstances of the cases; however, regular and continuous certifications are allowable if the conditions of the original certification have changed. Nevertheless, in some cases the employer may request the employee to submit a second or even third opinion from a neutral healthcare provider when it is considered necessary or when the certification is incomplete or insufficient to determine approval of FMLA leaves or extension. These situations, the employees could obtain an increase in the frequency of absences if the employer verifies that everything is correct. The second alternative that the company can implement to avoid intermittent FMLA is a temporary transfer of the employee to an available alternative position or department that better accommodates recurring periods of leave if that intermittent leave is predictable. With this transfer the employer will continue to provide equivalent pay and benefits, but the duties do not necessarily have to be the same. With this alternative the employer can hire temporary staff to take his/her place until his/her medical condition ends and thus avoid dissatisfaction and complaint from other workers to do extra work or cover his/her tasks without any extra bonuses or benefits. The last alternative, human resources management would implement with all supervisors a revision of the training with all employees involved in the departement. They should be aware of the basics of the FMLA regulation approved by DOL and should be on the alert with problematic employees. If they are trained to perceive potential FMLA abuse, the Human Resources Department will have a leg up on the issue. Sometimes, supervisors are afraid to ask the questions necessary to identify potential abuse situations only due to lack of knowledge or avoid a lawsuit with the employees, but it cannot be acceptable because that can become a bad habit that is repeating every year and it shows that the department is not doing the right job or because it is not able to face a situation where an employee is ignoring all the regulations and policies established by law and company. However, the employer and HR must take action to avoid future consequences with other employees. In addition, providing FMLA training regularly will help the HR Department to make sure to implement the FMLA correctly and follow the regulation required by the law and the employer's policy, procedures, and practices. Solution The usage of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) has been abused throughout the years, mostly because employees have been taking advantage of its leniency. Many options have been presented to improve the impact of FMLA and its usage by employees. However, some might be more effective than others. Questioning the validity of the documents presented by the employees to support their FMLA claims will help the Human Resources department to keep track of all documents provided, as well as constant communication means with the provider can also be helpful in monitoring the changes and improvements of the employees’ conditions. Abusing FMLA by employees mostly takes place due to a lack of concentration of the improvement state and constant checkups with providers. Staying connected with employees and their providers will decrease the chances of any FMLA lawsuit to take place as well as a reminder of all policies and regulations established by the HR department regarding the act. Furthermore, some employees’ conditions require the intervention of physical therapy which some might refuse to take part in, and in the process abuse their FMLA leave, and delay the return to their original schedule and tasks based on their conditions. A mean of communication between the Human Resources Department of DDC and their recommended physical therapy office is crucial in monitoring their condition’s improvement. Another solution presented which the DDC would profit from in decreasing the FMLA abuse is the revision of policies and regulations of FMLA. Employees act in their best interest while overlooking rules and procedures when regulations are not being reinforced by upper management. Supervisors and managers play an essential role in the FMLA actions as well as in the company. Therefore, managing their employees by providing them the accurate information will get employees to listen and act accordingly. All managers and essential supervisors should be trained in notifying the Human Resources Department of any FMLA request made by their employees for health conditions. The Department of Labor (DOL) provides the standards of FMLA but each organization is responsible to develop the best FMLA policies that will suit employees which should be communicated to managers. Upon providing the appropriate training to employees, the HR staff, managers and essential supervisors should understand the basics of FMLA which provide twelve weeks of unpaid leave to a covered employee. The training will help appropriate essentials in determining if a leave is covered by FMLA with the proper paperwork and the handling of the return of the employee. Additionally, upon offering training sessions to managers and supervisors, providing the necessary compliances of the Family and Medical Leave Act will help HR in handling employees' leaves in a better manner. Managers and supervisors are essential in maintaining the regulations and procedures to follow and avoid any legal issues as they are the intermittent bridge between employees and HR. By managing the employees through actions, essential supervisors and managers will be able to resolve problems and resolve crises beforehand. For instance, they should be trained to notify the HR department of any employee who has been absent for three days consecutively. Hence, the Human Resources Department will take proper actions by providing the required notices to the employee in a prompt manner. Providing substantial training to potential supervisors and managers will assist the Human Resources department in dealing with FMLA while preventing employees from the overuse of the law. Implementation HR plays an important role in protecting employers from FMLA abuse. The Human Resources department must ensure that supervisors of DDC are adequately trained, they can protect their company only if they understand what the law allows and prohibits. Many companies do not provide adequate training for first-line supervisors, which creates one of the loopholes of FMLA abuse. Employers should initiate supervisor education immediately, but employers need to understand that they should personalize their plans. There is no correct method for all companies. Based on the concept of psychological contract, individual beliefs and exchanged agreements are established between employees and managers. When employees are being asked specific questions about why they need to leave, An Exchanged agreement is also established psychologically when an employee submits the valid documentation for sick leave. they would realize that it is hard to get away with well trained supervisors. The human resources department should formulate a plan suitable for their supervisors according to the company's situation. The FMLA coordinator needs regular and constructive training to keep up with updates to the FMLA. In the early days when the agency started to solve the problem of FMLA abuse, high-density training should be conducted based on the specific situation of the agency. Shortening the interval between two training sessions can ensure that the coordinator has a deeper understanding of the problem of FMLA abuse. When the coordinator has mastered the basic knowledge about FMLA, the interval between two training sessions can be shortened to avoid the boredom of the coordinator, which can be adjusted according to the agency specific circumstances. The training will be conducted every three months, and the training content during this period will mainly include the latest case studies on FMLA. Through the training of the coordinator, managers can understand the true situation of FMLA abuse, and demonstrate the significance of FMLA to the agency. The content of the training should be based on case studies and scenarios, and avoid using a lot of law language, because it will make people feel bored. Finally, the agency needs to provide the FMLA coordinator with a management manual; the content of the manual should include information about FMLA and the consequences and solutions caused by the abuse of FMLA. Furthermore, the manual should be attached to a list of questions the FMLA coordinator should apply to the employees before requesting leave. The key function of this manual is to allow the coordinator to read through at any time and find solutions in the manual when needed. Effectiveness Criteria In order to know if the agency has an effective FMLA procedure, strict measures need to be taken in the agency as a whole. The usage of the Family Medical Leave Act needs to have continuous monitoring for it to be successful and to have an effective outcome. One way to measure this leave is by monitoring the law and culture of the agency as a whole. Another is, facilitating the FMLA coordinator with updates on the law and procedures of FMLA to help management with any questions and concerns. This will also allow for management to look at trends from their employees and address it with the coordinator, and follow up on any abuse that may be occurring with the employee leave. Effectiveness can be measured by allowing us to understand how employees are using FMLA and if it is being abused. We will be able to keep track of every employee's leave of absence and follow up every three to six months to keep on record the status of their leave. In conclusion, frequent training and monitoring will guide the human resources department in avoiding FMLA usages from being abused. Keeping data information as a tool to see the trends happening in the organization will allow to minimize anxiety and question any lawsuit that can be prevented. Managers and supervisors will be more at ease knowing they are aware of the laws and regulations and will help in monitoring FMLA from being abused by employees. References ● “About NYC DDC.” About Us - Department of Design and Construction, www1.nyc.gov/site/ddc/about/about-ddc.page. ● Cook, I., & Ian. How to Uncover FMLA Abuse With Big Data. Retrieved from https://www.visier.com/clarity/how-to-uncover-fmla-abuse-with-big-data/ ● “Family and Medical Leave (FMLA).” U.S. Department of Labor, www.dol.gov/general/topic/benefits-leave/fmla. ● FMLA and Its Impact on Organizations - SHRM Online. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.smhrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/research-and-surveys/Document s/FMLA And Its Impact on Organizations Survey Report.pdf ● “FMLA Training Solutions - Take a Tour of Lessonly.” Lessonly, www.lessonly.com/fmla-training/. ● Separation for ordinary disability; reinstatement. (2019, April 20). Retrieved from https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVS/73 ● Smith, Allen, and J.d. “What Managers Need to Know About the FMLA.” SHRM, SHRM, 29 Oct. 2019. www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/employment-law/pages/fmla-ma nagers.aspx. ● U.S. Code of Federal Regulation, https://www.govregs.com/regulations/title29_chapterV_part825_subpartC_section825.307 ● Safety and Site Support - Department of Design and Construction. Web. May 10th, 2020. https://www1.nyc.gov/site/ddc/about/Safety_Site_Support.page