How To Get A Vacation From Work At Bp

Transcription

1 Family Medical Leave Policy Updated: 1. Eligibility 2. Qualifying reasons 3. Serious health condition 4. Period of leave 5. Intermittent or reduced schedule leave 6. Termination of leave 7. Notification requirements 8. Medical certification 9. Status reports 10. Benefits and service while on leave 11. Protected absences The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires BP to provide a family medical leave of absence of up to 12 or 26 weeks to eligible employees for specific reasons. BP s family medical leave policy provides benefits that in most cases exceed these requirements. Family medical leave is unpaid leave although paid time off such as Short-Term Disability benefits, vacation and personal choice holidays may be available and, if used, will run concurrent with the leave period. This policy applies to most employees who are eligible for the core benefits program. The core benefits program applies to the majority of benefits-eligible full-time, part-time, and temporary employees of BP who are on U.S. payroll. In certain locations where the core benefits program generally applies, business or functional units may decide to adopt provisions for their employees that differ from some of the provisions set forth in this policy. This policy does not apply to certain groups of employees such as at-site retail employees, Elite and Carson Refinery employees, and certain operational facilities. Employees covered by collective bargaining agreements will be covered by this policy to the extent consistent with the terms of the applicable collective bargaining agreement and any applicable legal guidelines. Family medical leave benefits for those employees not covered by this policy will be provided in accordance with their employer s related policies as described in separate documents. Where applicable, the terms and conditions of this policy are modified by state laws with more generous provisions.

2 1 Eligibility To be eligible for a family medical leave of absence, an employee must have worked for BP for at least 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period immediately preceding commencement of the leave. The 12 months of work required for eligibility 1) do not have to be consecutive, 2) could have occurred during prior years of service, and 3) may be earned while on other types of leave. An occasional employee who meets these criteria may also be eligible for leave. Time spent on military leave will be considered time worked for an employee returning from a military leave of absence. An individual who has provided services for BP through a temporary help agency and who is subsequently hired onto BP payroll may be eligible to have time worked for BP through the temporary agency counted toward the eligibility requirements. 2 Qualifying Reasons Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The law requires that BP provide an eligible employee with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the following FMLA qualifying reasons 1-5 within a 12-month period and up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave for FMLA qualifying reason #6 within a 12-month period: 1) The birth of the employee s child and to care for the newborn child; 2) The placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care; 3) The care of the employee s spouse, parent, child under age 18 or child who is older than 18 but incapable of self-care because of a disability, who has a serious health condition as defined by the FMLA; 4) The serious health condition of the employee, which makes the employee unable to perform any one or more of the essential functions of his/her job; 5) A qualifying exigency arising out of a servicemember s current tour of active duty or because the servicemember is notified of an impending call to duty in support of a contingency operation and the servicemember is the employee s spouse, son, daughter or parent. While not required by FMLA, BP s policy also provides for this type of leave related to the employee s domestic partner, parent-in-law, sibling or any other family member; or 6) The care of a recovering servicemember who is the employee s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or of whom the employee is the nearest blood relative. While not required by FMLA, BP s policy also provides for this type of leave related to the employee s domestic partner, parent-in-law, sibling or any other family member. A recovering servicemember is defined as having suffered an injury or illness while on active-duty that may render the person unable to perform the duties of the member s office, grade, rank or rating and for which the member is (1) undergoing medical treatment, recuperation or therapy; (2) an outpatient; or (3) on a temporary disability retired list.

3 Additional Qualifying Reasons Beyond the Requirements of the Law. BP s FML policy also provides a family medical leave for the following reasons: 7) The care of an employee s domestic partner who has a serious health condition as defined by the FMLA; or 8) The care of a parent-in-law, sibling, or other relative who has a serious health condition as defined by FMLA, giving consideration to the closeness of the relationship, with approval of the employee s team leader and the concurrence of the appropriate Human Resources manager. Employees may be required to provide documentation establishing a family relationship or documentation verifying the need for qualifying exigency leave.

4 3 Serious Health Condition A serious health condition is an illness or injury that involves at least one of the following: Condition (1) Inpatient care (2) Continuing treatment: Incapacity that lasts more than three consecutive calendar days that also involves: (i) inperson treatment two or more times by a health care professional (HCP) within a 30- day period, with the initial treatment occurring within 7-days of the first day of incapacity; or (ii) treatment by a HCP on at least one occasion which results in a regimen of continuing treatment under the supervision of the HCP (3) Pregnancy, including prenatal care (4) Incapacity or treatment for a chronic condition that requires treatment by HCP at least twice per year. (5) Permanent or long-term condition that involves a period of incapacity which is permanent or long-term (6) Multiple treatments for a non-chronic condition Examples Overnight or multiple nights hospital stay or subsequent treatment in connection with inpatient care Employee is unable to work for more than three consecutive days, he/she visits an HCP within 7 days of becoming sick and the HCP determines that a second inperson visit within 30-days of becoming sick is necessary. Employee is unable to work for more than three consecutive days, he/she visits the HCP at least once and is placed on a regimen of continuing treatment (e.g., prescription, physical therapy, etc.) under the supervision of the HCP. Prenatal visits; confined to bed before delivery; morning sickness Father (or domestic partner) is entitled to leave to care for pregnant spouse if incapacitated, for prenatal care, or if spouse has serious health condition following birth. Asthma; Diabetes; Epilepsy; migraines Stroke; Alzheimer s; permanent mental health Disabilities Restorative surgeries after a car accident or other injury, Physical therapy (arthritis); Chemotherapy (cancer), dialysis (kidney disease) Multiple treatments for a non-chronic condition Physical therapy following broken bone or surgery; Chemotherapy To verify the serious health condition of an employee or employee s family member, written medical certification from a health care provider ( HCP ) may be required.

5 4 Period of leave FMLA requires BP to provide eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for FMLA-qualifying reasons 1-5 as noted in this policy within a 12-month period and up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave for FMLA-qualifying reason #6 within a 12-month period as noted in this policy. Under the BP FML Policy, you may be eligible for up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave for FMLA-qualifying reasons 1-4 and reasons 7-8. Also under the BP FML Policy, you may be eligible to take more than one period of leave within a 12-month period for any combination of the eight qualifying reasons noted in this policy. The 12- month period for FMLA qualifying reasons 1-5 and 7-9 is measured looking backward from each day of leave. The 12 month period for FMLA qualifying reason #6 is measured forward from the first day of the leave. Employees must continue to meet the eligibility requirements to qualify for additional periods of leave. Example#1: John Smith, an eligible employee, takes 8 weeks of FMLA-leave for his own serious health condition in June-July In December 2009, John's wife, a covered servicemember, is injured in active duty. John requests leave to care for his wife starting December 15, The "single 12 month period" for John's injured servicemember leave begins on December 15, 2009 and runs until December 15, During this single 12 month period, John is eligible for 26 weeks of leave to care for his wife even though John had previously taken 8 weeks of FMLA leave for his own serious health condition. Example #2 (continued from Example #1): John Smith takes 8 weeks of leave to care for his wife starting on December 15, On March 15, 2010, John needs to take a second leave for his own serious health condition. Counting backwards from March 15, 2010, John is only entitled to 4 weeks of leave under the FMLA (he already used 8 weeks in June-July 2009). John takes all 4 weeks of his remaining FMLA leave. On April 30, 2010, his wife experiences complications from her injury and John needs to take additional leave to care for her. Under the FMLA and BP s FML Policy, John has a total of 26 weeks available from December 15, December 15, He has already taken 8 weeks to care for his wife and 4 weeks for his own personal health condition during this single 12 month period leaving 14 weeks of leave remaining during the single 12 month period. Note: In California, an employee may be eligible for up to four months of pregnancy disability leave. This four-month period runs concurrently with the weeks of leave provided under the FMLA and BP s FML policy. A leave of absence will begin with the first full day an employee is absent from scheduled work for one of the six qualifying reasons defined under Qualifying Reasons. If an employee is using leave on an intermittent or reduced schedule basis, leave will begin with the first full hour an employee is absent from scheduled work. How a week of leave is counted. A week of leave is equivalent to a week of regularly scheduled work. For employees working seven days on/seven days off or 14 days on/14 days off, scheduled time off is included in the 26 week total, since scheduled weeks off are part of the regular work schedule to compensate for the number of hours worked during the week(s) on the clock.

6 Work Schedule Five 8-hour days (traditional) 4/10 schedule 9/80 schedule Part-time schedule 12-hour shift/84 hours over 2 weeks 12-hour shift/7 days on/7 days off 12-hour shift/14 days on/14 days off Leave Time Available 26 weeks of five 8-hour days 26 weeks of four 10-hour days 13 weeks of four 9-hour days and one 8- hour day plus 13 weeks of four 9-hour days 26 weeks of number of days and hours based on regular part-time schedule 13 weeks of four 12-hour days plus 13 weeks of three 12-hour days 26 weeks of 7 days, including scheduled time on and off 26 weeks of 7 days, including scheduled time on and off 12-hour shift/14 days on/14 days off 26 weeks of 7 days, including scheduled time on and off Multiple leaves If more than one leave is required within a 12-month period, it will be granted provided the total time on leave will not exceed 26 weeks in a rolling 12-month period unless the leave is to care for a wounded servicemember or meets the exceptions below. Each time an employee takes leave, the remaining leave time will be any balance of the 26 weeks that has not been used during the immediate preceding 12 months unless the leave is to care for a wounded servicemember or meets the exceptions below. Exceptions to BP s maximum leave period If an employee is granted leave for one of the additional qualifying reasons provided under BP s FML policy that are not mandated by FMLA, and he/she uses all or most of the 26 weeks available, he/she may still be eligible for up to 12 or 26 more weeks of leave under the FMLA. Because BP is required by law to provide eligible employees with up to 12 or 26 weeks of leave for FMLAqualifying reasons, BP must allow an employee to take leave for those reasons, even if BP has already allowed maximum leave under BP s FML Policy for a non-fmlaqualifying reason. Example: Jill Jones takes 20 weeks of BP FML leave to care for her parent-in-law with a serious health condition (not covered by the FMLA). Six months later, Jill needs to take leave for her own serious health condition. Looking backward from the date of the requested leave, Jill has already taken 20 weeks of BP FML leave leaving her with only 6 weeks of BP FML leave. Although Jill has only 6 weeks of leave remaining under BP s FML Policy, she is still entitled under the FMLA to take 12 weeks of leave (assuming she meets the eligibility criteria).

7 Domestic partner BP will grant up to 12 additional weeks of leave to care for an employee s seriously ill domestic partner, if he/she meets the eligibility criteria even if he/she has already used all or most of the 26 weeks of leave available for a non-fmla mandated reason. Example: Employee has taken 26 weeks of leave to care for his/her seriously ill sister. Now, the employee s domestic partner is seriously ill. Although the employee has already used all 26 weeks of leave available for a non-fmla-mandated reason, he/she will be allowed to take up to an additional 12 weeks of leave to care for his/her domestic partner provided he/she meets the eligibility requirements at the time of leave. 5 Intermittent or reduced schedule leave Leave may be taken on an intermittent or reduced schedule basis when medically necessary for the serious health condition of the employee or the employee s family member. Intermittent or reduced schedule leave means the employee is still working part or most of his/her regular schedule but taking leave time as medically necessary. A written medical certification from an HCP may be required to certify that the intermittent or reduced schedule leave is medically necessary and the HCP may be required to estimate the expected frequency and duration of intermittent leave absences. In the case of foreseeable intermittent medical leave, BP may modify the employee s current position or require an employee to temporarily transfer to an alternative position for which the employee is qualified, in order to accommodate the intermittent or reduced schedule leave. When planning intermittent leave for medical treatment for the employee or the employee s family member, the employee should consult with his/her team leader when scheduling the leave. The employee has an obligation to make a reasonable effort to schedule the leave with approval from the HCP - so as not to unduly disrupt the Company s operations. If the employee fails to do so, the team leader can initiate discussions with the employee and require the employee to attempt to make such arrangements, subject to the approval of the HCP. Counting intermittent or reduced schedule leave time. If an employee takes leave on an intermittent or reduced schedule basis, only the amount of leave actually taken will be counted toward the 26 weeks of BP FML leave to which an employee is eligible. Any overtime the employee would have been required to work may be counted against the employee s FMLA leave entitlement. Leave time will be counted in no less than onehour increments. Example: If an employee who normally works five days a week takes one day of leave per week, he/she would use 1/5 of a week of leave each week. Similarly, a full-time employee who works four-hour days under a reduced schedule leave each week will use 1/2 of a week of leave each week.

8 6 Termination of leave An employee is expected to return to work at the end of the approved leave period and must provide at least two days notice of his/her intent to return. If an employee does not wish to or cannot return to work at the conclusion of the approved leave, the family medical leave will be terminated. Although family medical leave ends at this point, the employee may be eligible for another type of leave such as medical or personal leave. Reinstatement The leave will be granted with the understanding that the employee will be reinstated to the position held prior to the leave or to a position with equivalent benefits, pay and other terms and conditions of employment. If there is a change in the Company s circumstances during the employee s leave period, the employee s status will be changed to what it would have been had the employee remained at work. Fitness-for-duty certifications Any employee returning from a leave of absence due to his/her own serious health condition may be required to submit a fitness-for-duty certification from his/her personal physician certifying that he/she is able to resume normal job duties. The Company may also require that the fitness-for-duty certification specifically address the employee s ability to perform the essential functions of her/her job. The Company may delay the employee s return to work until the employee provides the fitness-for-duty certification. An employee who fails to return a sufficient fitness-forduty certification is not entitled to reinstatement. The Company may require a periodic (no more than once every 30 days) fitness-for-duty certification for employees returning from intermittent or reduced schedule leave when the Company has a reasonable safety concern regarding the employee s ability to perform his/her duties based on the serious health condition for which the employee was out on leave.. Employees are required to provide a minimum two-day notice before returning to work from leave status. Birth or placement of a child for adoption or foster care If an employee has been granted a family medical leave for the birth of the employee s child, or for the placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care, the leave will end no later than 12 months from the child s birth or adoption or foster care event, even if the maximum leave period has not been reached. The employee may request a personal leave for any additional time off beyond the 12-month period. If he/she does not return to work at the end of the family medical leave period or 12 months from the event, whichever occurs first, and does not request a personal leave, his/her employment with the Company will end. Serious health condition of the employee If an employee who (a) has been off work because of his/her own serious health condition, (b) has reached the end of his/her FMLA leave period, (c) is unable to return to work, and (d) has Short-Term Disability ( STD ) benefits remaining, the employee may continue to stay out and receive any remaining STD benefits for which he/she is eligible. The employee may also request a medical disability leave or a personal leave. The medical disability leave would start on the first calendar day on which the employee has exhausted his/her STD benefits. If

9 granted a personal leave, the leave would start on the first calendar day following the day the family medical leave was terminated. Note that the grant of a medical or personal leave, or an FMLA leave, will not affect the eligibility for nor the administration of STD benefit payments. If the employee does not return to work at the end of the FMLA period, has exhausted all available STD benefits for which he/she is eligible, and does not request and receive approval for an extended medical or personal leave, his/her employment with the Company will end. Serious health condition of a family member If an employee who has been off work to care for a family member has reached the end of his/her leave period and is not ready to return to work, he/she may request a personal leave. If he/she does not return to work at the end of the family medical leave period and does not request and receive approval for a personal leave, his/her employment with the Company will end. Care for an injured servicemember or Qualifying Exigency Leave If an employee who has been off work to care for an injured service member or due to a qualifying exigency arising from active duty of a servicemember, has reached the end of his/her leave period and is not ready to return to work, he/she may request a personal leave. If he/she does not return to work at the end of the family medical leave period and does not request and receive approval for a personal leave, his/her employment with the Company will end. 7 Notification requirements An employee who expects to take or anticipates taking a qualifying exigency leave of absence must notify BP as soon as practicable of the need for leave. Employees may be required to provide documentation verifying the reason for exigency leave, including documentation supporting the need for leave, an estimate of the frequency and duration of leave and contact information if the leave is for the purpose of meeting with a thirdparty. An employee who expects to take or anticipates taking a family medical or injured servicemember leave of absence must notify his/her team leader and/or Human Resources advisor, in writing, of the start date and expected duration of the leave at least 30 days in advance or, if the need is not foreseeable, as soon as practicable (same day or next day), or the leave may be delayed or denied. An employee who fails to provide at least 30 days advance notice of the need for foreseeable leave may be required to explain why such notice was impracticable. The employee may be required to provide BP with certain documentation and medical information to support a family medical leave. If this documentation or medical information is not provided upon request, the absence may be considered a recordable, unprotected absence and the employee may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination. Employees must comply with BP s notice and call-in procedures. An employee who fails to follow these procedures may have their leave delayed or denied and is subject to discipline under the applicable call-in or attendance policies.

10 8 Medical Certification To verify an employee s serious health condition or the serious health condition of an employee s family member, the employee may be required to provide written medical certification from an HCP certifying the serious health condition. If leave is for an employee s own serious health condition, the Company may request that the HCP identify the job functions the employee is unable to perform. If leave is for the care of a family member with a serious health condition, the certification must confirm that leave is required to provide the family member with assistance for basic medical or personal needs or safety, for transportation, or to provide psychological comfort which would either assist in the family member s recovery or be beneficial to the family member. If leave is to care for a recovering servicemember, the certification must confirm that the servicemember suffered a serious injury or illness in the line of duty (on active duty) and that the servicemember is undergoing treatment for such injury or illness by an HCP. If the Company does not require a written medical certification prior to the start of leave, the Company may require such a medical certification if it later learns new information that makes it question the reason for or length of leave. The Company may also request periodic medical recertification under certain circumstances. If requested, the employee must return the certification according to the applicable instructions within 15 days of its receipt, or leave may be delayed or denied. If BP determines that the medical certification is incomplete or insufficient, BP will notify the employee that additional information is necessary. The employee will be given at least seven (7) calendar days to cure the deficiency in the medical certification. An employee s failure to return a requested medical certification constitutes a failure to provide certification and can result in the denial of leave. If leave is denied, any absences are unprotected and subject to disciplinary procedures up to and including termination. If the Company questions the validity of the medical certification, it has the right to request a second opinion. If the first and second opinions differ, the Company may require a third opinion, which will be final and binding. The third and final opinion is by a health care provider jointly selected by the Company and the employee and paid for solely by the Company. Whether or not the Company requires a written medical certification prior to the start of leave, if it later learns the employee lied or provided fraudulent information about the reason for or length of leave, the employee may be disciplined, up to and including termination.

11 9 Status reports Employees may be required to report to their team leaders every six weeks following the beginning of the leave regarding their intent to return to work. This provision does not apply to employees on intermittent leave. Employees on reduced schedule leave may be required to report to their team leaders every 6 weeks following the beginning of the leave regarding their intent to return to a full schedule. These status reports may be written or oral. 10 Benefits and service while on leave While on a family medical leave, the employee s benefits and service will be affected as follows: Credited service Credited service will continue to accrue during the period covered by a family medical leave. Vesting and benefits service Vesting and, where applicable, benefits service will also continue to accrue during an approved family medical leave for purposes of the retirement and savings plans. Health and protection coverages While on a family medical leave, an employee will maintain the same level of medical, dental, vision, long-term disability (LTD), life and flexible spending account coverages under the same conditions as if the employee continued to work; however, the employee will not be able to make premium payments for such coverage on a pre-tax basis if the employee is not receiving any taxable income from the Company. The employee will still be responsible for paying his/her share of any contributions or premiums and may be required to make payments on an after-tax basis. Short-term disability If an employee is off work for his/her own serious health condition and is eligible for STD benefits, he/she may receive those benefits, whether on full-time leave or intermittent or reduced schedule leave. The period for which he/she receives STD benefits will run concurrent with family medical leave and medical disability leave. During this period of time, the employee must meet the procedural requirements of this policy as well as the applicable provisions of the STD Plan in order to receive STD benefits. Employees who meet the requirements of the FMLA and this policy remain entitled to unpaid family medical leave even if they fail to meet the terms and conditions of the STD Plan. If an employee is on leave for his/her own serious health condition and has exhausted his/her STD benefits, any remaining period of time the employee is off work on a family medical leave will run concurrent with a medical leave. If the Strategic Performance Unit/Business Unit/Function provides any paid time off to care for a family member with a serious health condition, that time will also run concurrent with family medical leave.

12 Savings plan loans and deductions While on an unpaid family medical leave, automatic payroll deductions for employee contributions and loan payments will end. The employee will automatically receive information from BP Retirement Services regarding action necessary to avoid default on any outstanding savings plan loan(s). Vacation and personal choice holidays In most circumstances, during the period of family medical leave, an employee may elect to utilize paid vacation or personal choice holidays to which the employee would otherwise be entitled. When requested, those vacation or personal holiday benefits will be paid concurrent with the leave, and the time off work will be considered part of the family medical leave period. An employee wishing to use vacation or personal choice holiday benefits should notify his/her Human Resources advisor at least one full pay period in advance and meet the procedural requirements of this policy as well as the applicable provisions of the Holiday and Vacation policies. Vacation and Personal Choice Holiday benefits will be paid in accordance with the Vacation and Holiday policies. Unused vacation benefits at year-end will be subject to the provisions of the Vacation policy. 11 Protected absences If an employee is granted leave for any of the FMLA-qualifying reasons, the leave will count toward the 12 or 26 weeks required and protected by law. Those 12 or 26 weeks also count toward the 26 weeks available under this more generous BP FML policy. Any absence that counts toward the 12 or 26 weeks required by law cannot be held against the employee for any reason, including absence and tardiness policies (provided the employee follows usual notice and call-in procedures). In addition, an approved family medical leave to care for a domestic partner will receive the same protection. Bonuses granted for meeting specific goals (e.g., attendance, safety, hours worked or products sold) may be denied if the employee fails to achieve the goal as a result of the family medical leave absences. Per the BP Reward policy (and regardless of whether the leave is FMLA-qualifying), VPP will be prorated to take into account any time during which an employee was on an unpaid leave of absence. (See Reward Policy for further detail). Any leave time provided beyond that required by law may be considered an unprotected, recordable absence. Absences that may result in discipline and/or be counted as an occurrence under a no-fault attendance and tardiness policy include: _ Absences related to an FMLA-qualified reason when the absence exceeds 12 weeks in a rolling 12-month period except where state requires otherwise and/or in cases of leave related to the care of an injured service member. _ Absences related to a non-fmla-qualified reason (except up to 12 weeks of leave to the care of a domestic partner); _ Absences for which the employee is not eligible for leave under the FMLA; and

13 _ Absences for which the employee failed to submit required documentation. When the need for leave is initially discussed, the employee should be notified if it is anticipated that the absence - by virtue of its length or qualifications - may result in a recordable absence and/or disciplinary action. This policy is subject to the disclaimer set forth on the LifeBenefits Network site. Additionally, you may be subject to more specific policies or requirements as outlined by a labor agreement, business unit policies and/or State laws and regulations.