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Airport employees such as cleaners and maintenance teams have enough stressors during the coronavirus pandemic, e.g. B. Trying to protect their health while working with large groups of people. Los Angeles World Airports employees, who own and operate Los Angeles International Airport and Van Nuys Airport, also had problems with their medical leave application system, resulting in long delays in approving their medical leave and even disciplinary action to take time off

A U.S. Department of Labor investigation found that this system failure resulted in invalid disciplinary action and violations of the U.S. Family and Sick Leave Act (FMLA). Investigators found that medical leave requests had gone through five levels of administrative review before reaching Human Resources about a month later. Some inquiries had been pending for several months. Under the FMLA, employers must notify employees whether they are entitled to vacation within five business days of the first application.

The employer also wrongly relied on second opinions from a family doctor, which resulted in workers not taking the vacation they needed and available.

As a result of the investigation, Los Angeles World Airports made extensive changes to their FMLA requirements system. The redesigned system includes a new web-based tool that gives employees updates and approvals within 24 hours instead of months. The employer no longer routinely requires second opinions from health care providers, creates a reference guide for vacation specialists and eliminates any adverse action against employees.