Joint employment and FMLA in Wisconsin

On Behalf of | Apr 6, 2016 | Employment Law

If a worker is jointly employed by two or more companies, they may both be responsible for compliance with FMLA requirements. Joint employment occurs when employers benefit from the services of an individual and are related to each other. Typically, the employers will have an arrangement to share the services of a single worker and they will share common control of that worker.

An employee who works for two companies jointly must be counted by both employers for FMLA purposes. This is true even if that worker is only on one payroll. When determining an employee’s work site, the primary employer’s office or other location is considered the work site. However, if a worker works for a year or more at the secondary employer’s workplace, this would be the worker’s primary one.

Primary employers are responsible for providing leave as well as issuing notices related to FMLA. They must also keep relevant records and may not interfere with or terminate an employee for taking FMLA leave. Secondary employers may not interfere with an employee’s ability to take leave under FMLA and may need to restore that worker to his or her job upon return. A primary employer must comply with all regulations even if the secondary employer does not provide any support in doing so.

An employer that is covered by FMLA must comply with all of that act’s rules regulations. Employees who feel as if they were terminated, harassed or otherwise were treated unfairly for exercising those rights may wish to contact an attorney in order to see what recourse may be available for such an employee rights violation.

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