Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen v. Union Pacific Railroad

Railroad Workers Win Case Over Family Leave Calculations

This case involved a dispute between railroad workers and Union Pacific Railroad over how the company calculated Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) time off. Under FMLA, eligible workers can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family or medical reasons. However, for employees with irregular schedules, companies must calculate this leave based on the actual hours they typically work, not just the number of times they report to work.

Union Pacific was calculating FMLA leave based on "starts" - meaning each time an employee began a work shift counted the same, regardless of how long that shift lasted. The railroad workers' union argued this was wrong because their members work varying shift lengths, and this method shortchanged workers of their full FMLA entitlement.

The court sided with the workers, ruling that Union Pacific's calculation method violated federal law. The judge found that FMLA leave must be calculated based on actual "hours worked" for employees with variable schedules, not simply the number of work periods.

Why this matters for workers: This ruling protects employees with irregular schedules from having their family leave time unfairly reduced. Companies cannot use shortcuts that deny workers their full FMLA benefits - they must use proper hour-based calculations.