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Overseas Contractor

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csporluck

Member
I'm a Contractor with the US Military overseas (Middle East). I also have a pregnant wife at home. My company says they are exempt from the FMLA, but at other times they say they fall under Colorado law since that's where the Company is out of, even there's a Middle East Office and HR department located there. The HR department deferrs all leaves and vacations to the Country Managers, and also outright say that we as employees are unable to take vacation time until 6 months. My child is due at about 4 months into this contract. I have no problem taking absent without pay, but the catch is.. in this country a "sponsor" holds your Passport. The only way to get your Passport is for your Employer to get it.... stuff they neglect to mention until AFTER you get in country. Nothing in my contract states that I won't be able to leave the country, it's a policy that is mentioned once we get here.

I'd rather not quit this job, since it pays well and has good medical/dental benefits. I also don't want to be terminated for getting forceful with my request, but I want to know if there's any legal protection out there.

Thanks
 


B

Beth3

Senior Member
When you say you're a contractor for the gov't, do you mean that you actually are directly employed by an agency of some sort who in turn lease you to the military? We need to establish where you are someone's EMPLOYEE as opposed to being a true independent contractor which means you are self-employed.
 
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cbg

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
It actually depends on the law, whether Federal law applies, state law applies, or even whether they are exempt from either or both. So they're not necessarily trying to get the best of both worlds. (I'm not saying they aren't - just that it's not necessarily the reason.)

It's entirely legal for them to forbid the use of vacation for six months, regardless of which law applies.

As for FMLA, please answer the following:

1.) How long have you worked for this employer? (not, how long on this contract - how long for THIS EMPLOYER?)

2.) How many employees within 75 miles of YOUR LOCATION?
 
C

csporluck

Member
Ahh, I haven't worked for them long enough.

As for the employee number, probably a hundred or more, not sure.. we're spread out here in the Desert Regions.
 
C

csporluck

Member
Beth3 said:
When you say you're a contractor for the gov't, do you mean that you actually are directly employed by an agency of some sort who in turn lease you to the military? We need to establish where you are someone's EMPLOYEE as opposed to being a true independent contractor which means you are self-employed.
Click to expand...

When speaking of Government Contractors you work for a company, at least overseas. This is different than stateside contractors that build houses. Same word, but sort of different meanings.

Contractors= Civilians who work for a company providing service for the DOD or Federal Government
Civilian Employee= Directly works for the Agency at hand (actual GS position)
 
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Beth3

Senior Member
cbg and I were going after the same thing - just from different angles. When did you start working for this employer (the date) and what date is the baby due?

Being a civilian contractor for the military in a foreign land makes your situation more complex but we're both trying to determine whether you may be eligible for parental leave under the FMLA.
 
C

csporluck

Member
My contract start date is 26 September 04, w/ end date one year afterwards.
The baby is due 26 January 05.

I asked the recruiter if this was going to be a problem, and no one said it would be. But, alot of stuff wasn't disclosed until AFTER we got in country, and even some more once we got to our camps. The "No Leave/Vacation until 6 months" is one of them....

Prior to this job I was ACTIVE Duty military, obviously employed by the same entitity that my company is contracted to.

As I stated, if they won't let me go, I'll quit.. granted a 100k/year job isn't something I'd like to quit right now.
 
cbg

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
If you only joined the company in September of 04, FMLA may apply to them but it doesn't apply to you. They wouldn't have to allow you to take FMLA - in fact, legally they COULDN'T allow you to take FMLA - regardless of whether you were in the US, the Middle East, Canada or Australia.
 
C

csporluck

Member
I guess I may as well try lining up some jobs then, eh?

Thanks for the information. My HR department was saying they didn't have to because they aren't in the US, well I'm not that is..
 
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Beth3

Senior Member
I don't know whether U.S. employment laws apply to ex-pat employees or not. I haven't had occasion to research that. It's irrelevant though because even if it does, you won't have worked for the company long enough by the time the baby is born.

Have you asked your manager if you can take some personal leave time when the baby is born? While they don't have to grant it, it's a perfectly reasonable request. Of course you're dealing with the military and you know far better than I how rigid they probably are.
 
B

BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
I don't know whether U.S. employment laws apply to ex-pat employees or not.
Click to expand...
and ex-pat worker would be someone living in the host country with all the rights and priviledges of said host but working for a corporation/company registered in the U.S. (very basic definitiion)

In this case, the worker is a U.S. citizen, living in the U.S., working for a U.S. company in a location other than the U.S. The same laws would apply as if the work location were in Beantown, U.S.A.

The company, as a condition of their DOD contracts, is NOT exempt from FLMA.

The rest has already been answered.
 
C

ccxdsr

Junior Member
csporluck said:
I'm a Contractor with the US Military overseas (Middle East). I also have a pregnant wife at home. My company says they are exempt from the FMLA, but at other times they say they fall under Colorado law since that's where the Company is out of, even there's a Middle East Office and HR department located there. The HR department deferrs all leaves and vacations to the Country Managers, and also outright say that we as employees are unable to take vacation time until 6 months. My child is due at about 4 months into this contract. I have no problem taking absent without pay, but the catch is.. in this country a "sponsor" holds your Passport. The only way to get your Passport is for your Employer to get it.... stuff they neglect to mention until AFTER you get in country. Nothing in my contract states that I won't be able to leave the country, it's a policy that is mentioned once we get here.

I'd rather not quit this job, since it pays well and has good medical/dental benefits. I also don't want to be terminated for getting forceful with my request, but I want to know if there's any legal protection out there.

Thanks
Click to expand...
i hope everything works out and the baby is healthy. on another note i was interested in info re working overseas and i was wondering if you have any advise. i have a transportation backround and i currently have a cdl a and forklift certification. i currently supervise the transportation for a dist ctr. any help would be great. kevin
 
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