If an employee's unpaid FMLA leave exceeds 30 days, what happens to the employee's merit date?

• A. It remains the same
• B. It is adjusted accordingly
• C. It is reset to the date of return
• D. It is advanced by 30 days

Answer: (B)

When unpaid FMLA leave goes beyond 30 days, the time away from work interrupts the service period used to determine merit eligibility. The correct approach is to adjust the merit date accordingly, by the actual number of days beyond that initial 30-day threshold. This keeps the merit review aligned with the employee’s true time in service rather than calendar time, ensuring fairness.

For example, if the original merit date would have fallen on a certain date and the employee takes 20 days of unpaid FMLA beyond the first 30 days, the merit date is pushed forward by those 20 days. The longer the unpaid leave beyond 30 days, the greater the adjustment.

Staying the same would ignore the interruption in service. Resetting to the return date would base the merit on the return rather than the adjusted service time. Advancing by a fixed 30 days would not reflect the actual length of the unpaid leave beyond the initial 30 days.