Page 34 - Footprint Employee Handbook - US 2021

are required. Requests for unpaid personal leave may be denied or granted for any reason or no reason and are
within the sole discretion of the Company.

Footprint reserves the right to terminate employment for any reason or no reason during the leave of absence.
An eligible employee should submit a request in writing to his or her immediate supervisor. The requesting employee
will be asked to acknowledge in writing his or her understanding that all requests for personal leaves are not granted.

The immediate supervisor will:
• Review the request taking workload scheduling and departmental requirements into consideration.
• Make a recommendation to and obtain a decision from the department director/manager.
• Submit the department-level decision to Human Resources for final approval.
• Return a decision to the employee as soon as feasible after receipt of the written request.

If the request is approved, the supervisor will submit a Change of Status form to Human Resources as soon as
practicable. Once the employee returns, the supervisor should complete a Change of Status form returning the
employee to active status and submit to Human Resources.
An employee is required to return from the unpaid personal leave on the originally scheduled return date. If the
employee is unable to return, he or she must request an extension of the leave in writing. If Footprint declines to
extend the leave, the employee must then return to work on the originally scheduled return date or be considered to
have voluntarily resigned from his or her employment. Extensions of such leave will be considered on a case-by-
case basis.

FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT(FMLA)
Footprint is a covered employer under the Family and Medical Leave Act and complies with all FMLA requirements.
The Company will grant FMLA Leave in accordance with the requirements of applicable federal and state law in
effect at the time the leave is granted. Although the federal and state laws sometimes have different names, the
Company refers to these types of leaves collectively as “FMLA Leave.” In any case, employees will be eligible for
the most generous benefits available under applicable law.

Eligibility Requirements/Leave Year
You are eligible for unpaid FMLA Leave during a rolling 12-month period if you have been employed by the Company
for at least 12 months, you have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period prior to the commencement
of the leave, and you work at a facility with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius. The Company uses a
rolling 12-month period measured backward from the date you use any FMLA Leave.

Previous periods of employment within seven years of your current employment period count toward your 12-month
service requirement. Employment periods prior to a break in service of more than seven years are counted if the
break in service was for National Guard or Military Reserve service. Employees who return from National Guard or
Military Reserve service are credited for the time that they are on military leave to meet the 1,250 hours of service
requirement.

Reasons for Leave
An FMLA Leave may be requested for any of the following reasons:
• Birth/Placement (Bonding) – to care for a child born to or placed for adoption or foster care with you within
12 months following the birth or placement of the child;
• Family Medical – to care for your parent, child, or spouse with a serious health condition;
• Employee Medical – because of your own serious health condition;
• Qualifying Exigency – because of any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that your parent, child, or
spouse is on “covered active duty” (as defined below) (or has been notified of an impending call or order to
active duty) in a foreign country in the Armed Forces; or
• Injured Service member (Military Caregiver) – to care for a covered service member or covered veteran with
a serious illness or injury (incurred or aggravated in the line of active duty in the Armed Forces) and who is
your parent, child, spouse, or for whom you are next of kin.
Healthy Planet. Healthy People 33 | P a g e