Spirit Airlines FMLA Policy Is Out of Whack, Class Action Claims

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A former Spirit Airlines flight attendant alleges in a proposed class action that the carrier has enforced family and medical leave policies that are “facially inconsistent” with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Under the FMLA, certain employees are entitled to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons, the 17-page lawsuit explains. Flight attendants in particular must hit a certain “hours of service” requirement in order to be entitled to FMLA leave, per the case. 

Specifically, a flight attendant will meet the law’s hours-of-service requirement if, during the previous 12 months, they have worked or been paid for not less than 60 percent of their applicable monthly guarantee, or worked or been paid for not less than 504 hours, the lawsuit relays. Moreover, the law requires that FLMA leave eligibility must be calculated using an employee’s “duty hours,” i.e., all hours worked within the past 12 months, including time spent performing a variety of support tasks that begin before a plane takes off and end after it lands, the case says. 

The complaint alleges Spirit has wrongfully required flight attendants to maintain 520 credit hours within the previous 12 months in order to be eligible for FMLA leave, higher than the 504 hours required by the law. Further, the “credit hours” Spirit uses to calculate a flight attendant’s FMLA service requirement include only “block-to-block time”—that is, the period of time beginning when an aircraft first moves for a flight and ending when the aircraft is next secured with blocks at a ramp or unloading point, the lawsuit states.

Because Spirit’s FMLA hours requirement is based on block-to-block time rather than duty hours, the airline fails to account for the time flight attendants work pre- and post-flight, a minimum of 80 to 90 minutes per flight, the suit says. 

“As a result, this policy effectively interferes with, restrains, or denies the exercise of or the attempt to exercise the FMLA benefits by Plaintiff and the Class,” the filing alleges. 

The suit also alleges Spirit has wrongfully provided eligible flight attendants with up to 12 workweeks of paid FMLA leave in a 12-month period, even though the law stipulates that they’re entitled to up to 72 days of FMLA leave during any 12-month period. Similarly, although Spirit allows eligible flight attendants to take up to 26 workweeks of FMLA leave in a 12-month period to care for a covered service member with a serious injury, the FMLA allows for 156 days for the care of a covered service member during a 12-month period, the suit says. 

Finally, the lawsuit claims that although Spirit requires flight attendants to report FMLA leave no later than three business days after their leave starts, the FMLA allows workers to report leave within three days “or as soon as practicable.” 

The case looks to cover all current and former flight attendants who were employed by Spirit and based in the United States at any time within the last three years and until the final date of judgment in the lawsuit. 

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