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AGVA contract that follows AEA Off-Bway Rulebook: FMLA?

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NomieRae:
Hi All--

I am planning on calling my respective unions in the morning but wanted to see if anyone knew if AGVA or AEA members qualify for the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that was instated in 2008. I have an ailing parent, and the only thing I can find in writing in my rulebook is that I am allowed 3 days of unpaid leave. FMLA is more of what I will be needing to take (it allows up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave)

Has anyone been in this situation? Currently I am in an open discussion with my producers about the future. I have two subs who can run my track indefinitely, but do I need to get something in writing that ensures that they won't just let me go? Is it weird to even ask that? At the end of the day I just want to be able to return to work when I am able to, is this just a far fetched dream in our line of work?

Any advice or info is appreciated- I will let everyone know what my AGVA and AEA reps say tomorrow.

VSM:
Naomi -
I didn't want to ignore your question but I personally have no experience with this situation.
I'm glad you have an open dialogue with your employer; that's a very good place to be in.
Please let us all know what you find out on Thursday.

DeeCap:
I have not had this experience. I'm assuming that your place of work employs more than 50 people, as below that FMLA doesn't apply (I believe)
I don't think it's weird to ask for something that the majority of the US gets without any problems.
Good luck, and I hope it all works out for you.

MatthewShiner:
We had a lengthy discussion about the maternity leave here

http://smnetwork.org/forum/index.php/topic,6390.msg39463.html#msg39463

and some of the same case can be made about family leave.

We are a different industry then the rest of the world.

Let's take it out of context

Let's say a costume designer had a family emergency and couldn't do three weeks of fittings or tech . . . how can the job be held for them?  Can they show wait? 

We are a time based position (we have to get the show open in time, we have to perform a show at 8:00p) - we don't have some of the same flexibility as other industries. 

Our entire career is a free-lance, temp, contract employees, and we do not get the same benefits as other types of full-time, regular employees. 

There is a trade off, and often it is not in our favor.

NomieRae:
Hi Again--

Just wanted to update everyone about progress with this - as I suspected I am not eligible for FMLA but through open discussion and negotiations with my producers and AGVA rep we are working on coming to a similar agreement that may allow for several weeks of unpaid leave. Caveats to this are that I am of course not eligible to earn weeks towards my paid vacation time, or health weeks while on leave (luckily I have already worked my 20 weeks so I won't lose my benefits)

Of course, as we all know with an open ended commercial run, no one knows if we will still be running in several weeks...

I feel very fortunate that I have an understanding office team, producers, co-workers and subs who are willing to work on this with me so they don't lose me-I am sure it is not the case for every instance of family emergency. I'll feel better once we have something in writing to guide us, but overall considering the circumstances I am relieved that (for now) it seems to be working out.

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