There are a lot of changes that have occurred in the workforce in an attempt to make the workplace a better place not only for employees but also for employers. One of these changes involves the granting of employees time off to spend with their families or to attend to other family issues that need their attention. In this respect, there are family laws and regulations that have been formulated in the past in regard to leave policies in businesses and organizations. Following this point, there are various legal issues that a company such as 1995 Auto Corp has to consider before granting or denying its employees a work leave.
To begin with, this company faces a legal risk for the lack of a defined leave policy in place. According to Gross (2010), it is important to have policies such as leave policies in place. With this in mind, employers such as 1995 Auto Corp can be able to administer a standard scale when it comes to allowing its employee to go on leave. In this regard, therefore, it is important for companies or rather employers to properly document their policies in regard to leave policies so that these policies can be referred to when certain issues that concern work leave arise in the company.
As a result of this, any company that violates the laws and regulations that have been formulated by the state in regard to work leave is entitled to receive severe punishment or rather face legal risks. Notably, some of the legal risks that are involved may not emanate directly from lack of these policies but rather when an employee is dismissed as a result of violating the unwritten code of leave policies (Stevens, 2005, p.116). In such a case, a company such 1995 Auto Corp would not be in a position to defend itself against a lawsuit from its employees since there are no clear written policies that define what is expected by employees in regard to their work leaves.
Therefore, the three cases that have been started by employees of 1995 Auto Corp would need to be addressed in a careful manner to avoid raising legal concerns. The first employee who needed leave to care for her terminally ill mother-in-law and the second employee whose wife has just had a baby is entitled to be granted a work leave, particularly considering that they have been with this company for more than 12 months. In reference to the Office of Personnel Management (1993), a company that has more than 50 employees has to grant its employees a work leave that is requested, especially when these employees have been with the company for more than 12 months. The third employee who had been with the company for seven months and had already exhausted her sick leave period was not entitled to any leave. This is as a result of the Family Medical Leave Act that requires an employee to be granted 12 weeks off from work within a period of 12 months.
However, since 1995 Auto Corp does not have a defined leave policy in place, she is able to argue her case to the point of being granted sick leave. In order to avoid getting into a legal battle with this employee, 1995 Auto Corp could work on negotiating with her to get an unpaid sick leave and then employ a temporary worker in her place. With this in place, this company would be able to avoid legal battles with its employee while at the same time saving on the amount of money and time it could waste as a result of not having somebody to replace her temporarily.