Mesa Employee Handbook

Employees returning to work from a serious health condition must have a written "return to work" notice from a qualified health care provider. You will be required to substitute any accrued paid leave for any unpaid FMLA leave such as leave to care for the serious health condition of a covered family member or for any unpaid waiting periods.

MEDICAL LEAVE / SHORT-TERM DISABILITY

To be eligible for a medical leave, you must be employed for 30 days and eligible for benefits. The company may grant an employee a paid medical leave of absence due to temporary or permanent medical disability. If the employee is eligible and the employee’s need for medical leave is an FMLA qualifying condition, FMLA leave and the first 12 weeks of personal medical leave will run concurrently. To be eligible for a paid medical leave (referred to as short term disability), hourly employees and salaried non- exempt employees must submit the physician’s statement beginning the first day of disability. A salaried exempt employee must submit the physician’s statement in order to be paid beyond the first week of disability. Hourly employees have a 7-day waiting period. Salaried and salaried non-exempt administrative employees have no waiting period. A salaried exempt and salaried non-exempt employee must submit the physician’s statement in order to be paid beyond the first week of disability. If your disability extends beyond two full work weeks, to continue receiving your compensation or salary continuation pay, you should contact the company’s disability insurance carrier to notify them of your disability. Salary continuation is NOT an insurance plan and the benefits are not paid by the insurance company. However, Flowers has an “advice to pay” arrangement with the insurance company to review all disability claims for medical necessity and duration. You can obtain a brochure outlining the proper procedures from the Human Resources Department. A paid medical leave, or a period of short-term disability, may extend up to 180 consecutive days, or 26 weeks. During this time, the employee is eligible to receive compensation, or salary continuation pay, as long as the physician states that the employee is disabled. The company reserves the right to have a physician of its own choosing examine any employee for purposes of determining eligibility for medical leave and eligibility to return to work. During the approved period of short-term disability, the employee is eligible to continue participation in all benefit programs, provided he or she continues to make applicable contributions toward the cost of those benefits. The company will consider successive periods of disability one period of disability unless the employee returns to their regular, full-time job assignment for 90 consecutive days or the causes of the disabilities are entirely unrelated to each other and occur after the employee has returned to his or her regular full-time job. Employees who are out of work on an approved period of short-term disability will be authorized to return to work under the following terms: 1. You must notify the company as soon as you know that you are able to return to work, preferably 2 weeks before your return. You must have a written statement from a qualified physician that indicates you are able to return to work and perform all the essential function of your job with or without reasonable accommodation. 2. You will return to the same job you had when you went on leave, if it is still available. If that job is not available, the company will try to place you in a comparable job for which you are qualified.* If you decline the offer to return to your job or a comparable job, it will be deemed a voluntary resignation of employment. 3. If no job is available for you, you will be placed on a preferential hiring list for a period of 6 months and be placed in the next opening for which you are qualified. * *Qualifications include such factors as demonstrated skills related to the job, ability to perform essential job functions, prior experience and training, prior job performance, and attendance and disciplinary records.

25