Typically, Forums allow members to miss two meetings per year. On the third miss, they are removed from the Forum. This policy works for most situations because two misses per year is enough to allow for things to come up while also making sure a member is committed to the Forum. There are some situations, however, that require a special policy. Those situations tend to fall under family and medical. In these cases, the member won’t be able to attend a meeting for an extended period of time, but their seat in the Forum should be held until they are able to come back.
Below is a sample FMLA Leave Policy for Forums that you could include in the Code of Conduct.
FMLA Leave Policy:
Any member is granted six months (on top of the normal two miss allowance) for topics related to the following:
- for the birth and care of the newborn child for themselves or a spouse;
- for placement of a child for adoption or foster care;
- to care for an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition; or
- to take medical leave when the member is unable to attend meetings because of a serious health condition.