LA airports change medical-leave system after federal labor investigation – Each day Information

The US Department of Labor announced Monday, March 1, that Los Angeles World Airports, LAX and Van Nuys are operating “major changes” following a federal investigation that found long delays and invalid disciplinary issues their system to allow employees to request medical leave acts and violations of the Family and Sick Leave Act.

According to federal officials, LAWA workers had to wait months for medical leave requests to be approved, and some were subjected to illegal disciplinary action when they applied for unpaid leave to care for family members or themselves.

LAWA officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

“Especially during a global pandemic, workers shouldn’t have to choose between their workplace and their health,” said Francisco Ocampo, assistant district director for the US Department of Labor and Hours.

“The Family and Sick Leave Act enables much-needed workplace flexibility when employees need it most,” he said. “This research has helped significantly improve the working conditions of more than 4,000 workers. We will educate employers and enforce the law to protect workers and create a level playing field for all employers. “

Under the Family and Sick Leave Act, employers must notify employees whether they are entitled to leave within five days of the employee’s first application. Federal investigators found that family and sick leave applications from LAWA employees received five levels of administrative review prior to being reviewed by the HR department. According to the Ministry of Labor, some applications had been pending for months.

LAWA also relied on second opinions from an in-house doctor, which, according to the Ministry of Labor, were inappropriate and resulted in employees not taking the vacation they needed and available.

The new LAWA system for employee leave requests has been revised to provide employees with updates and approvals within 24 hours.

The Department of Labor also said that LAWA no longer routinely requires second opinions from health care providers, and it created a reference guide for vacation specialists, planned joint training with the payroll and hourly department, and eliminated adverse measures against employees.