History of Information Need

The interviewee is trying to determine how to prepare for her upcoming maternity leave. She had taken leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for the birth of her first child three and half years ago. At that time, the departmental and institutional policy for taking FMLA was such that you could take a combination of paid leave and leave without pay. The current institutional policy states that all paid leave must be exhausted before leave without pay can be taken.

The interviewee was interested in determining when and why the policy changed and whether it was flexible within the departments of the institution. She said, "I assumed it would be the same as last time. But in conversation with [others] who had taken maternity leave recently, it came up that things had changed. I needed to find out what the new policy was."

Her personal concern regarding the information need was twofold.

First, was the issue of paid and unpaid leave. By taking maternity leave as a combination of paid leave and leave without pay (both allowed under FMLA), the employee would then retain some level of paid leave in reserve when she returned to work. By requiring all paid leave be exhausted before taking leave without pay, the employee is left to return from medical leave with no paid leave available should an unexpected illness occur.

Her second concern was whether she could opt out of the FMLA designation of leave. FMLA designated leave can be taken for up to 12 weeks within a 12 month period. She felt that employees should not be required to exhaust all paid leave and all FMLA benefit if they are willing to take a portion of the leave without pay and without the benefits that FMLA guarantees. The employer has a separate voluntary leave without pay program, but it is not allowed for leave which is considered medical.