Final project video - Lura
Summary
TLDRIn the transcript, a supervisor named Carol discusses workplace issues with an HR representative. She admits to denying an employee's FMLA leave due to staffing concerns, unaware of the legal requirements. Carol also addresses a disciplinary action against an employee for filing workers' comp claims, citing frustration with frequent injuries. Additionally, she expresses discomfort with accommodating a transgender employee's pronouns, reflecting a lack of understanding of anti-discrimination laws. The conversation highlights the need for policy review and sensitivity training to ensure legal compliance and workplace respect.
Takeaways
- 😕 The supervisor, Carol, denied an employee's FMLA leave due to staff shortages and a misunderstanding of FMLA policies.
- 🤔 Carol expressed her lack of knowledge about FMLA and the necessity of approval when eligibility criteria are met.
- 🛠️ There is a suggestion for training to ensure supervisors understand and apply FMLA and other relevant policies correctly.
- 🚫 Carol disciplined an employee for filing workers' compensation claims, unaware that it's prohibited by law.
- 📚 It's recommended that policies regarding workers' compensation should be reviewed and communicated to avoid legal issues.
- 😡 Carol showed frustration with a transgender employee's identity and pronoun preferences, reflecting a lack of understanding and sensitivity.
- 🏳️🌈 The Civil Rights Act and New Hampshire law prohibit discrimination based on gender identity, including in the workplace.
- 👥 The conversation highlighted the need for broader training on diversity and inclusion to address new and evolving workplace dynamics.
- 😅 Carol's comments about the transgender employee indicate a need for personal growth and understanding of different identities.
- 📝 The importance of documenting policy violations and ensuring compliance with federal and state laws was emphasized.
- 🔑 The supervisor is encouraged to correct oversights and engage in policy reviews to prevent potential disciplinary actions.
Q & A
Why was FMLA leave denied to the employee who wanted time off to care for their spouse?
-The supervisor denied the FMLA leave because they were already short-staffed due to another employee being on FMLA leave. They felt they couldn't afford to be without another person and made a decision based on their current staffing situation.
What is the legal requirement regarding FMLA leave approval?
-Federal law requires that FMLA leave be approved when the eligibility criteria are met, and distinctions based on the relationship to the person needing care cannot be made.
What is the supervisor's understanding of FMLA policies prior to the conversation?
-The supervisor had limited understanding of FMLA policies, believing that it was the responsibility of the central office to understand such laws, and they were not aware of the legal requirements.
What does the supervisor suggest as a solution to ensure clarity on policies moving forward?
-The supervisor is open to training and reviewing the FMLA policy together to ensure clarity and compliance in the future.
What was the reason for the disciplinary action against the employee who filed workers comp claims?
-The supervisor disciplined the employee because they believed the employee was frequently getting injured and taking advantage of the system, and they wanted to prevent other employees from seeing this as a rewarded behavior.
What is the legal stance on disciplining employees for filing workers comp claims?
-New Hampshire revised statutes prohibit employers from disciplining or retaliating against employees who file workers comp claims.
What is the supervisor's initial reaction to the transgender employee's situation?
-The supervisor expresses frustration and confusion, referring to the situation as new territory and indicating a lack of understanding and acceptance of the employee's gender identity.
What does the law require in terms of respecting a transgender employee's name and pronoun preferences?
-The Civil Rights Act and New Hampshire law prohibit discrimination based on gender identity, requiring employers to respect an individual's name and pronoun preferences.
What steps are suggested to address the issues raised in the conversation?
-Suggested steps include reviewing FMLA and workers comp policies, providing additional training on these issues, and addressing gender identity discrimination through broader training.
What are the potential consequences for a supervisor who continues to engage in non-compliant behavior?
-If the behavior continues, there could be disciplinary consequences such as suspension without pay, demotion, or removal from supervisory roles.
What is the supervisor's final understanding and agreement on moving forward?
-The supervisor agrees to review the policies, participate in additional training, and is reassured that there will be no immediate disciplinary consequences as long as they follow through with the corrective actions.
Outlines
🤔 Supervisor's FMLA Denial and Staffing Concerns
In this paragraph, a supervisor named Carol discusses her decision to deny an employee's request for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave to care for their spouse recovering from surgery. She cites being short-staffed and the need to prioritize existing staff as her reasoning. The conversation highlights a misunderstanding of FMLA requirements, leading to a suggestion for policy clarification and training to ensure compliance with federal law, which mandates approval of FMLA leave when eligibility criteria are met.
🚫 Disciplinary Action Against Worker's Comp Claimant
The second paragraph delves into a disciplinary action taken against an employee who frequently filed workers' compensation claims. The supervisor expresses frustration with the employee's frequent injuries and the impact on the team. However, it is clarified that under New Hampshire revised statutes, there is a law prohibiting employers from retaliating against employees who file workers' comp claims. This leads to a discussion about the need for policy review and training to prevent such misunderstandings and ensure legal compliance.
🏳️🌈 Addressing Discrimination and Transgender Employee Issues
In the final paragraph, the conversation turns to issues surrounding a transgender employee who has experienced taunting and improper pronoun usage. The supervisor expresses personal discomfort and a lack of understanding regarding the situation. It is explained that both the Civil Rights Act and New Hampshire law prohibit discrimination based on gender identity, including the requirement to respect an individual's name and pronoun preferences. The paragraph concludes with a plan for broader training and policy review to address these issues and ensure a respectful workplace environment.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act)
💡Supervisor
💡Staffing
💡Workers Compensation
💡Retaliation
💡Transgender
💡Pronoun
💡Civil Rights Act
💡Discrimination
💡Training
💡Policy Review
Highlights
Carol's initial concern about the duration of the meeting due to her busy schedule.
Discussion of denying FMLA leave to an employee for personal reasons, highlighting staff shortages.
Clarification that FMLA leave must be approved when eligibility criteria are met, regardless of staff levels.
Carol's lack of awareness about FMLA policies and the suggestion for training to address this.
Proposal to review FMLA policy together to ensure clarity moving forward.
Acknowledgment of Carol's concerns about being understaffed and the plan to address them.
Carol's reasoning for disciplinary action against an employee filing frequent workers' compensation claims.
Explanation of the legal prohibition against retaliating against employees who file workers comp claims.
Suggestion for group review of policies in managerial meetings to ensure understanding.
Carol's struggle with understanding and respecting a transgender employee's identity.
Legal information on the Civil Rights Act and its extension to gender identity discrimination.
Proposal for broad training on gender identity and federal/state laws to foster understanding.
Carol's realization of the need for policy adherence and the potential consequences of non-compliance.
Assurance that Carol is valued and that the meeting aims to correct oversights, not to discipline.
Plan for policy review and additional training to ensure legal compliance and avoid disciplinary actions.
Carol's agreement to participate in policy review and training to improve understanding and compliance.
Final summary of the meeting's objectives and next steps for Carol to ensure legal and policy adherence.
Transcripts
go
ahead hi Carol thanks you so much for
coming in today how's your afternoon
going um you know it's good but I'm
really busy so you know is this going to
take
long see I don't think it will um I'm
hoping that you could clarify a few
situations for me um it was shared with
me that you denied FMLA leave to an
employee who wanted some time off to
care for their spouse who was recovering
from surgery yeah and I was hoping thank
you I was hoping that you could walk me
through your reasoning for denying this
request so um yeah this this guy he said
he needed Lee for his wife um I'm really
short staffed I already have somebody
who's out um on FMLA for themsel so I
kind of had to make a choice and figure
out I can't do without yet another
person so um since it's just his wife I
said you know no take it another
time okay thank you for clarifying for
me um I definitely understand your
desire to minimize disruption um that
makes a lot of sense to me uh fil La if
it helps to know if we can clarify this
fil La doesn't allow us to make uh
distinctions like that the Federal Law
requires that we approve FMLA leave when
the eligibility criteria are met
um how am I supposed to know that
so right that's a great question and I
was wondering how we could make sure
that you do know do you have some ideas
about how what we could do to make sure
that those policies are clear going
forward well I mean I'm I'm a supervisor
and like I'm on the front line with
these people and
I saw it as like a a a a leave request
that was going to put me even deeper in
the whole with Staffing so I don't I
don't know or understand FMLA um I don't
know I felt like that's that's for you
guys up in the central office to
understand so should I have training I
don't
know right I think that would be great I
was actually wondering um if we could do
training and I'm wondering if it might
be helpful for you and I to look at the
fote policy together to make sure that
it is clear moving
forward yeah I think so if um if I'm
making mistakes um I'm just doing it
based on what I know so obviously I
don't know enough I guess yeah and I
think moving forward uh we can also put
in a a set of checks if that makes you
feel more comfortable yeah yeah yeah and
we can and we can talk about too your
concerns about being underst staffed are
of course completely valid and we would
want to address those in those
conversations okay yeah I don't want you
feeling short staffed that sounds great
all right is that
it uh and then I was hoping
to okay well I we I have in front of me
that um there was a disciplinary action
against an employee for file filing some
workers compensation claims
and I
was more deeply understand your
reasoning
there yeah um seems like our connection
might be a little bad can you hear me
okay oh there you are oh there he is oh
de what happened it just disappeared I
think we froze yeah our connection was
getting a little bad is that okay yeah I
think this is better
okay so you said that you you were the
workers comp what did you say yeah so I
understand that there was an employee
that was disciplined for filing uh
workers comp claims and I was hoping to
understand your reasoning there oh yeah
so let me just tell you about this guy
gets injured all the time always out out
out out filing workers comp claims and
you know this time I
suppose maybe there was more validity to
it um it was you know the begin
beginning of the summer you know we have
all that work to do in these
classrooms um he didn't want to go up
but I told him he had to we had a table
I put a ladder up there I I made him
climb up onto the table and onto the
ladder to get you know teachers hang
stuff from the ceilings all the time
muted him to yank that down and he fell
and so you know I saw it he probably
really hurt himself but I just don't
want like other there were other
employees I don't want everyone to see
that this kind of thing like gets
rewarded that they're out all the time
so I just said enough is enough you know
suck it up buttercup let's just get to
work I yeah I understand your point of
you and I I yeah that sounds really
frustrating if this can keeps keeps
happening the thing is for me I have to
go back to uh the New Hampshire revised
stat statutes and there's actually a
specific law that prohibits employers
from disciplining or retaliating
employees who file workers comp claims
um so this was something that if a claim
was filed we do have to allow it to walk
walk through the system uh and again
there's a law that says that we can't
retaliate against those employees as
frustrating as that might feel oh I
didn't know that I just thought you know
basically that he had reached his limit
of the number of times he can get hurt
so
right I can see how you would think that
um maybe does it feel like this would be
another place where we could just sit
down and uh talk about those policies
and I'm wondering too if maybe just in
the larger managerial meetings the team
leads maybe we should be going over this
um in in those groups too does that feel
like that would be help full sort of a
group review and maybe a one-on-one
review yeah I like that idea because um
I don't know that I don't think I'm the
only supervisor that doesn't understand
this yeah I'm sure I'm sure you're not
the I'm sure not the only one uh so I
think that this will be helpful for many
people at the school to have the
opportunity to get their eyes on some of
these policies okay yeah I like that
okay uh so one more one more thing
before you go Carol thank you again for
your time um so I'm I was wondering if
you could tell me what's been happening
with a transgender employee in your
department what do you
mean uh uh it's been shared with me that
there's been some taunting of this
employee and maybe some pronoun use that
isn't the pronoun that they want to be
using oh well don't even get me started
let me just tell you
this whole snowflake generation just
drives me nuts I mean I don't care what
she does at home but when she comes into
work like I feel like she just needs to
pick a lane one day she's you know I
hired a woman to do this work and now
she's saying that she I have to she has
to be you know called by a man's name
and man and I just can't keep it all
straight and it's you know honestly I
think it's something that's far outside
of the scope of what I should be doing I
just I don't agree with what she's doing
either personally
so yeah I feel like this is New
Territory for for so many for so many of
us
uh so the Civil Rights Act actually
prohibits discrimination based on sex uh
and the Supreme Court actually found
that this includes gender identity so
although
this situation uh might not
feel that it might feel new um there the
the law does say
that we need to respect those those
person's name choices and their the
gender that they wish to be referred to
as and there's actually uh New Hampshire
law as well that explicitly prohibits
discrimination based on gender
identity um and this again sounds to me
like because it's so new I'm wondering
if there could be an opportunity for for
more broad training yeah I mean we work
in a school so I know there are kids
that that are trans but I I've never
known an employee to be and figure is
just my luck it's one of my people and I
mean I kind of yeah I mean I was
joking with them and obviously it sounds
like they didn't think was funny if you
know about
it and I I understand it's fun to joke
and I understand the value in building
camarad um and I think that we can just
look to federal and state law in this
instance to help us decide what those
appropriate behaviors are such as using
the requested name and gender um so I
think this is an this is an easy an easy
thing to correct and again I think some
additional training and as you say we
have those resources to hand because we
do uh provide those trainings to our
students um so we've got some great
resources that we could absolutely share
uh so just to wrap up in terms of moving
forward does it still sound good to
review uh the fuma policy the workers
comp policy and get some additional
training around those issues and then
also uh gender and and the Civil Rights
Act yeah I mean that sounds great I I
didn't feel I didn't realize that these
things were all piling up in am I you
know you're talking to me about three
different things am I in trouble here
should I be worried because you're
sitting down talking to me like that's
such a good question you're a very
valuable member of the team and so
you're here because I want to be sure uh
that you know your work is valued and
that there are just some instances that
need to be corrected so I do have to
document this um and I think if we walk
through our plan of policy review and
additional training and as long as we
make sure we're on the right side of
those federal and state laws I don't
anticipate there being disciplinary
consequences for you if the behavior
continues we'd have to have another
conversation and certainly articulate um
what would happen moving forward and I
don't anticipate that happening you're a
great employee Carol I think that you
seem interested in understanding these
laws and there is an oversight I would
say that they weren't um understood so
we can correct that um but if we had a
fictional person who chose to continue
to engage in this behavior that could
result in suspension um without pay or
even a you know a demotion or a move out
of supervisory roles because we do want
people who can model the law um you know
W within their employee group so again I
don't foresee any of that happening but
just to give some clarity as to what
might happen if there was a fictional
person uh who didn't follow through on
the action steps and um again just
engage with that those legal uh statutes
in the state and sched level okay all
right that makes sense okay awesome
Carol thank you so much for your time
and I'll be in touch about getting some
quick time on your calendar to start uh
going over some of those policies
because I want to be sure I do a good
job and making sure they're clear for
you okay great thank you thank you for
your time yes I know you're busy let me
let you go all right
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