Human Capital: Better Managing and Monitoring of Family Medical Leave Act Use Would Reduce Risks

Our objective for this report was to assess the extent to which the company effectively manages leave granted under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

The FMLA provides important protections to employees who need to miss work for their medical conditions or those of a family member. We have previously reported on employee abuses of FMLA leave and weaknesses in the company’s administration of it that could have contributed to such abuse. 

In this report, we found that Amtrak is committed to ensuring that its employees maintain access to the important job protections FMLA provides, and that its process for approving leave is generally effective. The company, however, does not effectively oversee FMLA leave once employees begin using it because 1) it has not consistently communicated oversight responsibilities to supervisors, and 2)company systems do not allow supervisors to effectively track FMLA leave approvals. As a result, many supervisors do not track FMLA leave at all. More broadly, without adequate tracking tools, the company does not have reliable data on FMLA leave use companywide.

Without more effective management of FMLA leave, the unpredictable nature of FMLA-related absences—and the company’s limited visibility regarding them—poses operational, safety, and financial risks.

To address these weaknesses, we recommended that the company define its requirements for managing and monitoring FMLA leave, evaluate solutions to meet such requirements, and select a strategy to strengthen its FMLA leave oversight. In the meantime, we recommended that the company better communicate roles and responsibilities and provide training for employees overseeing FMLA leave.