Join our outstanding staff and enjoy a comprehensive benefits package that includes:
- Health Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Life & AD&D Insurance
- Short-term and Long-term disability
- Flexible Spending Accounts
- Pension Plan
- Paid Time Off (PTO): sick, holiday, vacation time in PTO bank
- Extended Illness Bank (EIB)
- Bereavement Leave
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
- Jury Duty
- Tuition Reimbursement
- Military Leave
- Worker’s Compensation
Additional Perks for PVMC Employees:
- Discounts on medical services
- On-site discounted employee massage
- Recreation Center Discounts
- Free use of PVMC’s fitness room
- Credit union membership
- Education assistance program
- Cellular telephone discounts
- Educational assistance/health education
- Bistro & Barista discounts, notary public, theme park discounts
- Employee social functions and events
Platte Valley Medical Center Leave of Absence–Family and Medical under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Eligibility Requirements
You are eligible to be considered for FMLA if you have worked at Platte Valley Medical Center for at least 12 months and for 1,250 hours. If you do not qualify for FMLA leave, the leave of absence policy entitled “Leave of Absence Other Than That Covered by FMLA” may apply.
Basic Leave Entitlement
Platte Valley Medical Center provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to eligible employees for the following reasons:
Incapacity due to pregnancy, prenatal medical care or child birth;
To care for your child after birth, or placement for adoption or foster care;
To care for your spouse, son or daughter, or parent, who has a serious health condition;
Serious health condition that makes you unable to perform the essential functions of your job.
Definition of Serious Health Condition
A serious health condition is an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves either an overnight stay in a medical care facility, or continuing treatment by a health care provider for a condition that either prevents you from performing the functions of your job, or prevents the qualified family member from participating in school or other daily activities.
Subject to certain conditions, the continuing treatment requirement may be met by a period of incapacity of more than 3 consecutive calendar days combined with at least two visits to a health care provider. The first visit must occur within 7 days of the first day of incapacity, and the second visit must be directed by the health care provider and occur within a 30-day period of time after the first day of incapacity. Continuing treatment requirements may also be met by one visit and a regimen of continuing treatment, incapacity due to pregnancy, or incapacity due to a chronic condition in which you must make at least two visits in a year to a health care provider. Other conditions may meet the definition of continuing treatment.
Military Family Leave Entitlements
If you are eligible and you have a spouse, son, daughter, or parent on active duty or call to active duty status in the National Guard or Reserves in support of a contingency operation, you may use your 12-week leave entitlement to address certain qualifying exigencies. Qualifying exigencies may include attending certain military events, arranging for alternative childcare, addressing certain financial and legal arrangements, attending certain counseling sessions, and attending post-deployment reintegration briefings. Leave can be taken for other events arising out of the covered military member’s active duty or call to active duty if PVMC and you agree that the event qualifies and on the timing and duration of leave.
You may also take up to 26 weeks of leave to care for a covered service member during a single 12-month period. A covered service member is a current member of the Armed Forces, including a member of the National Guard or Reserves, who has a serious injury or illness incurred in the line of duty on active duty. The injury or illness must make the service member medically unfit to perform his or her duties for which the service member is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy; or is in outpatient status; or is on the temporary disability retired list.
Benefits and Protections
During FMLA leave, Platte Valley Medical Center maintains your health coverage under any group health plan on the same terms as if you had continued to work. You must continue to pay your portion of any insurance premium while on leave. If you meet the conditions for using Paid Time Off (PTO) and/or the Extended Illness Bank (EIB) and receive PTO or EIB hours during your FMLA, the deductions for the health insurance may be taken from your paycheck. If you do not have enough PTO and/or EIB hours to receive a full paycheck, you may request that PTO and/or EIB hours in your bank be spread out over the time of your leave to pay the insurance premiums. If you do not receive PTO or EIB during leave, you will need to make arrangements to pay the insurance premiums with Human Resources prior to your leave.
In the event that you fail to return from family or medical leave, you will be liable for the premiums paid by Platte Valley Medical Center to maintain insurance coverage during the leave unless: (1) your failure to return to work is due to the continuation, recurrence, or onset of a serious health condition of you or your family member, which would otherwise entitle you to FMLA leave if all other conditions were satisfied; or (2) if your failure to return is due to circumstances beyond your control.
Your Health Care Spending Account will be continued at the current level of coverage if you are receiving PTO or EIB pay during the FMLA leave. Prior to departing on an unpaid leave, you must make arrangements to pay the contribution to the Health Care Spending Account. Because beginning or returning from a leave of absence is a change in employment status, you may have the option to drop or change the amount contributed to the Health Care Spending Account. This change must be done within 30 days of the employment status change by completing a “Dependent Care and Health Care Flexible Spending Account Enrollment/Change Form.” The Dependent Care Spending Account may not be continued during an unpaid leave.
Upon return from FMLA leave, most employees are restored to their original or equivalent positions with equivalent pay, benefits, and other employment terms. Certain key employees may be eligible for leave, but may have limited reinstatement rights.
Use of FMLA leave cannot result in the loss of any employment benefit that accrued prior to the start of your leave. Holiday pay, funeral leave, and employer’s jury duty pay are not granted while on leave.
Use of Leave
The maximum time allowed for FMLA Leave is either 12 weeks in the 12-month period as defined by Platte Valley Medical Center, or 26 weeks if you need to care for a qualified covered service member. If you and your spouse both work for Platte Valley Medical Center, both you and your spouse may each have up to 12 weeks of FMLA leave during the 12-month period when the leave is necessitated by the serious health condition of you, your spouse, or your child. Spouses may take up to 12 weeks of leave between them because of the birth of a child, child care, adoption, foster care or care for their own parent with a serious health condition. Spouses may take up to 26 weeks of leave between them to care for an eligible service member. Platte Valley Medical Center uses the 12-month period measured backward from the first day of your FMLA leave. For the service member leave, the 12-month period is measured from the first day the eligible employee takes leave to care for the service member and ends 12 months after that date.
Leave can be taken intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule when medically necessary. An appropriate Medical Certification will be required. You must make reasonable efforts to schedule intermittent or reduced leave for planned medical treatment so as not to unduly disrupt Platte Valley Medical Center’s operations. Leave due to qualifying exigencies may also be taken on an intermittent basis. Intermittent leave for chronic conditions will require certification at least twice a year.
If you are taking intermittent or reduced schedule leave based on planned medical treatment or if you are taking intermittent or reduced schedule family leave with Platte Valley Medical Center’s agreement, you may be required to temporarily transfer to another job with equivalent pay and benefits that better accommodates that type of leave.
Substitution of Paid Leave for Unpaid Leave
Platte Valley Medical Center requires you to use your PTO during FMLA. EIB may be taken during FMLA if you otherwise qualify to use EIB. If you fail to follow PVMC’s policies with respect to EIB, you cannot use accrued EIB, but you can take unpaid leave. (Note that EIB time can be used for only your own illness or injury, not that of a family member.) An acceptably completed Certification of Healthcare Provider must be submitted to Human Resources before you are eligible for EIB. PTO and EIB time run concurrently with FMLA; PTO and EIB do not extend the FMLA leave of absence period. In addition, leave under FMLA runs concurrently with the non-FMLA leave described in the section “Leave of Absence Other Than That Covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act.” The non-FMLA leave may not be used to extend the FMLA leave of absence period.
Your Responsibilities
You must provide 30 days advance notice of the need to take FMLA leave when the need is foreseeable. When 30 days’ notice is not possible, you must provide notice as soon as practicable, for example, within one working day of the leave, and generally you must comply with Platte Valley Medical Center’s normal call-in procedures. If the leave is foreseeable, you also should make a reasonable effort to schedule the treatment so as not to unduly disrupt Hospital operations.
To request a leave, you should complete, sign, and submit a “Personnel Action Request” to the Department Director. The Personnel Action Request should contain the reason for the leave, the starting date, and the planned date for return to work.
You must provide sufficient information for the Hospital to determine if the leave may qualify for FMLA protection and the anticipated timing and duration of the leave. Sufficient information may include the inability of you to perform job functions, the family member’s inability to perform the activities of daily living, the need for hospitalization or continuing treatment by a health care provider, or circumstances supporting the need for military family leave. You also must inform Platte Valley Medical Center if the requested leave is for a reason for which FMLA leave was previously taken or certified.
You are required to provide a complete and acceptable “Certification of Health Care Provider” form. You must contact the Human Resources Department for this form. No other form may be used in its place. If the “Certification of Health Care Provider” form is incomplete, illegible, or unclear, the Hospital may reject the form and return it to you. It will then be your responsibility to get the form’s deficiencies completed within seven days, or the grant for FMLA may be denied.
Possible periodic recertifications supporting the need for leave may also be required, but not more often than every 30 days. In all cases of leave for a serious health condition, PVMC reserves the right to request a second and third medical opinion at Hospital expense. Documentation confirming family relationship, adoption, or foster care may be required. If notification and appropriate complete certification are not provided in a timely manner, approval for leave may be denied. Continued absence after denial of leave may result in disciplinary action in accordance with Platte Valley Medical Center’s attendance guidelines. Before returning to work, the “Release to Return to Work” form is required, verifying your ability to perform your job. The “Release to Return to Work” form can be found on the intranet or by contacting Human Resources. Before returning to work, fitness-for-duty certification may be required if reasonable safety concerns exist. Failure to return to work on the day after the expiration of leave may result in termination of employment.
If you are on leave and wish to return to work early, you must contact your Department Director AND Human Resources at least two days before your fist day of return.
Employer Responsibilities
If you request leave, Platte Valley Medical Center will inform you whether you are eligible under FMLA. If you are, the notice will specify any additional information required as well as your rights and responsibilities. If you are not eligible, Platte Valley Medical Center will provide a reason for the ineligibility.
Platte Valley Medical Center will inform you if leave will be designated as FMLA-protected and the amount of leave counted against your leave entitlement. If Platte Valley Medical Center determines that the leave is not FMLA protected, Platte Valley Medical Center will notify you.
Unlawful Acts by Employers
FMLA makes it unlawful for the Hospital to:
Interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of any right provided under FMLA;
Discharge or discriminate against any person for opposing any practice made unlawful by FMLA or for involvement in any proceeding under or relating to FMLA.
Enforcement
You may file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor or you may bring a private lawsuit against the Hospital. FMLA does not affect any Federal or State law prohibiting discrimination, or supersede any State or local law or collective bargaining agreement which provides greater family or medical leave rights.
