Check 4 leave counts before you approve time off

• Check 1,250 hours, at least 12 months of employment that need not be consecutive, the 50-employee test within 75 miles, and the separate 12-workweek leave cap before removing a technician from the dispatch board.
• An employee must have been employed for at least 1,250 hours of service during the 12-month period immediately preceding the commencement of the leave, according to Legal Information Institute. The employee must also be employed at a worksite where 50 or more employees are employed by the employer within 75 miles of that worksite, according to Legal Information Institute.
• Except for leave to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness, the total leave entitlement is limited to 12 workweeks during any 12-month period, according to Legal Information Institute.
• Under the rolling 12-month method, the remaining leave entitlement is any balance of the 12 weeks which has not been used during the immediately preceding 12 months, according to Legal Information Institute.
• Confirm these specific figures against your own records. Do not assume a small shop meets the 50-employee threshold. Check the hours and headcount directly.

The first count is whether the employee has been employed for at least 1,250 hours of service during the 12-month period immediately preceding the commencement of the leave, according to Legal Information Institute. This requirement is part of the definition of an eligible employee under 29 CFR § 825.110. The second count checks if the employee is employed at a worksite where 50 or more employees are employed by the employer within 75 miles of that worksite, according to Legal Information Institute. This worksite headcount requirement is also found in the eligible employee definition.

The third count concerns the duration of employment, which must be at least 12 months. The rule states that the 12 months an employee must have been employed by the employer need not be consecutive months, provided certain conditions are met, according to Legal Information Institute. For intermittent, occasional, or casual employment, 52 weeks is deemed to be equal to 12 months for the purpose of determining if the employment qualifies, according to Legal Information Institute.

The fourth count is the total leave entitlement, which is limited to a total of 12 workweeks during any 12-month period for any one, or more, of the covered reasons, according to Legal Information Institute. This limit applies except in the case of leave to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness. When you check these counts, you are verifying the hours, months, and worksite test, plus the leave cap defined in the federal regulations.

Write the four counts on a card and fill only the ones you can read from your own records before removing the name from the board.

The rule defines how the 12 months is counted. It specifies a “rolling” 12-month period measured backward from the date an employee uses any FMLA leave, according to Legal Information Institute. This measurement method applies each time leave is taken. It moves with the employee’s actual usage.

Under this method, the remaining leave entitlement is calculated as any balance of the 12 weeks which has not been used during the immediately preceding 12 months, according to Legal Information Institute. The balance is what remains of the 12 weeks after prior usage. If an employee has used 3 weeks in the last 12 months, the balance is 9 weeks. If they have used 12 weeks, the balance is 0. The count is not based on a static annual allotment but on the rolling history of usage.

To apply this to a time-off request, you must look backward from the start date of the requested leave. You count the weeks of FMLA leave already used in the 12 months leading up to that date. Subtract that number from 12. The result is the available balance. This process determines if the employee has remaining entitlement under the rolling method.

It focuses on the measurement of the period and the resulting balance. Except for leave to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness, leave is limited to 12 workweeks, but the actual available amount depends on the rolling usage. You must verify the prior usage to find the current balance.

An employee used 4 weeks in the immediately preceding 12 months. The cap is 12 workweeks, except for leave to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness. Subtract 4 from 12. The balance is 8 weeks. The other counts on that request are 1,250 hours, 12 months of employment, and 50 employees within 75 miles.

In Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service, once an approved time-off request is logged, the scheduling tools update to reflect the resource's unavailability. According to Microsoft, it is important to log the time-off request so that a dispatcher can see it on the schedule board when scheduling a work order. Read Work order statuses: 6 words to check at dispatch while that board is open.

When a resource has an approved time-off request, the scheduling assistant doesn't recommend that resource for a job during that period, according to Microsoft. The system automatically excludes the technician from potential assignments for the specific dates marked as off.

Additionally, the time slots for that resource are grayed out on the schedule board to provide a visual notification to the dispatchers that the resource isn't available, according to Microsoft. This grayed-out appearance serves as a clear visual cue on the board. It helps the team lead quickly identify which hours are blocked without needing to check individual request details.

Before this visual update occurs, there is a specific approval workflow. If a bookable resource is set to require time-off approval, an approval request is sent to that user's manager before the time-off request shows in the scheduling tools, according to Microsoft. This means the scheduling board remains unchanged until the manager completes the approval action. The request does not appear in the scheduling interface until that step is finished.

Check your own scheduling tool to see if it mirrors these behaviors. If your system does not automatically gray out slots or stop recommendations, you must manually update the board after approval. Verify that the specific time slots are marked as unavailable in your dispatch software. This manual step prevents accidental booking of the technician during their approved leave period.

The payroll tool handles time-off balances in specific ways when usage exceeds accrual or when pay cycles deviate from the standard schedule. According to the Housecall Pro help center, if an employee uses more time off than they have accrued, their balance will automatically go negative. This automatic adjustment occurs without manual intervention. Unused hours carry over to the new period, with any applicable limits.

Two scenarios require manual updates to the time-off balance. First, for off-cycle and bonus payrolls, you must manually update the balance. Second, if an employee starts mid-period, such as on June 15 when the pay period runs from June 1 to June 30, you need to manually add accruals for June.

When approving time off, note that Housecall Pro’s automatic negative balance when usage exceeds accrual is not a legal requirement. The tool allows the balance to drop below zero, but this does not change the federal leave counts discussed in other sections. If your firm uses a different system, verify whether it supports automatic negative balances or requires manual adjustments for overuse. For the specific product described, the automatic negative balance applies when usage exceeds accrual, while carryover rules handle unused hours at the period’s end.

The table below lists the specific leave counts and recordkeeping rules attributed to the named publishers.

According to Legal Information Institute, an eligible employee must have been employed for at least 1,250 hours of service during the 12-month period immediately preceding the commencement of the leave. The same source specifies that the employee is employed at a worksite where 50 or more employees are employed by the employer within 75 miles of that worksite. These two counts define the threshold for eligibility under the federal rule.

According to Legal Information Institute, an eligible employee's FMLA leave entitlement is limited to a total of 12 workweeks during any 12-month period, except for leave to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness.

Read the four leave counts from your own records before you remove a name from the board. Then log the request so a dispatcher can see it on the schedule board when scheduling a work order. See Record 7 hour fields before you approve today's time and Field Service Work Order Checklist for Dispatch Handoffs.

What are the four leave counts?

The four counts are 1,250 hours of service, 12 months of employment, 50 employees within 75 miles, and 12 workweeks of leave entitlement. Except for leave to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness, the leave entitlement is limited to a total of 12 workweeks during any 12-month period, according to Legal Information Institute.

Do the 12 months have to be in a row?

The 12 months an employee must have been employed by the employer need not be consecutive months, according to Legal Information Institute. For intermittent employment, 52 weeks equals 12 months.

What does the schedule do after approval?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service grays out slots on the schedule board for that resource when that resource has an approved time-off request.

Can the balance go negative in the payroll tool?

If an employee uses more time off than they have accrued, their balance will automatically go negative, according to Housecall Pro. This is Housecall Pro behavior, not a legal rule.

Who must keep the 6-year leave-wage records?

Records related to qualified sick leave wages and qualified family leave wages for leave taken after March 31, 2021, should be kept for at least 6 years, according to Internal Revenue Service. It also covers qualified wages for the employee retention credit paid after June 30, 2021.