| Course | HR420 Workplace Law, Labor Relations, and HR Risk Management |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 2 |
| Paper type | Employment law case analysis |
| Length | About 870 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration (Human Resources) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HR420 Unit 2
Hours, Miles and a Hip Replacement: A Unit 2 Employment Law Case Analysis Under the FMLA
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HR420: Workplace Law, Labor Relations, and HR Risk Management
Unit 2 Employment Law Case Analysis
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Wapsi Valley Car Wash, its staff and every figure are composite and illustrative; the statutes and regulations cited are real, and the analysis covers federal law only.
Facts
Wapsi Valley Car Wash operates nine express washes in eastern Iowa with 152 employees. The technician, who maintains tunnel equipment, works at the Cedar Rapids North site, which employs 23. The Marion site, 9 surface miles away, employs 18. The Iowa City site, 29 miles away, employs 16. The Waterloo site employs 19 at 58 miles. The Davenport site employs 21 and sits 72 miles away in a straight line but 80 miles by the shortest public road.
The technician has worked for the company for fourteen months. Payroll shows 1,318 hours paid in the last twelve months, including 56 hours of paid time off. His father is scheduled for hip replacement surgery with an overnight hospital stay and about four weeks of recovery during which he will need help at home. The technician told his site manager on the day the surgery date was set, nineteen days before it.
This analysis applies federal law only. Iowa law may add rights and should be checked separately.
Issue
Does the federal leave statute give the technician four protected weeks, and what must the company do now?
Rule and Application, Element by Element
Employer coverage. A private employer is covered once it has employed 50 or more people for at least 20 workweeks in this calendar year or the last one (Family and Medical Leave Act, 2018). With 152 employees year-round, Wapsi Valley is covered. This element needs no more than a sentence.
Twelve months of employment. An eligible employee must have worked for the employer for at least twelve months, which need not be consecutive (Eligible Employee, 2024). Fourteen months meets it.
1,250 hours in the past twelve months. This is where the analysis must slow down. The regulation counts hours actually worked, determined under the principles of the Fair Labor Standards Act, so paid time off that was not worked does not count (Eligible Employee, 2024). Payroll's 1,318 includes 56 hours of paid time off. Hours worked are therefore 1,262, which clears 1,250 by 12 hours.
A margin of 12 hours is narrow. Before relying on it, the company should confirm that no other non-work hours, such as paid holidays, sit inside the 1,262.
Fifty employees within seventy-five miles. The employee's worksite must have 50 or more company employees within a 75-mile radius, measured in surface miles over public roads by the shortest route (Determining Whether 50 Employees Are Employed Within 75 Miles, 2024). Cedar Rapids North has 23, Marion 18 and Iowa City 16, for 57 within 29 miles. Waterloo's 19 add to that, for 76. Davenport does not count: it is 72 miles in a straight line but 80 by road. Even without Waterloo, the count passes, and the result does not depend on any site whose distance is close to the line.
The worksite test turns on road miles, so a site that looks close on a map can fall outside the count, and this one did.
A serious health condition of a parent. Caring for a parent counts when the parent's condition is serious under the regulation, and that category includes inpatient care involving an overnight stay in a hospital and any period of incapacity connected to it (Serious Health Condition, 2024). Hip replacement with an overnight admission and four weeks of recovery qualifies. Caring includes physical help at home.
Notice. When leave is foreseeable, the employee must give 30 days' notice, or notice as soon as practicable if 30 days is not possible (Employee Notice Requirements for Foreseeable FMLA Leave, 2024). The surgery date was set nineteen days out, and he told his manager that day. Notice is satisfied.
Conclusion
The technician is eligible, and the leave qualifies. The site manager's promise to do what he could is not the standard: the job is protected by law, not by goodwill.
What the Company Owes Now
Notices. The company has five business days from the moment it learned of the need for leave to give the technician notice of his eligibility and of his rights and responsibilities, then a designation notice once it has enough information. Because the site manager learned of the request, the clock started with him.
Certification. The company may request medical certification of the father's condition and must give at least fifteen calendar days to return it.
Health coverage. Group health coverage continues during leave on the same terms as if he were working.
Restoration. On his return he is entitled to his old job or one equivalent to it in pay, benefits and terms.
A Note for the Site Manager
The phrase "I'll do what I can" should be replaced with a referral to human resources the same day. A manager who treats protected leave as a favor risks interfering with the employee's rights, even without meaning to.
References
Determining Whether 50 Employees Are Employed Within 75 Miles, 29 C.F.R. § 825.111 (2024).
Eligible Employee, 29 C.F.R. § 825.110 (2024).
Employee Notice Requirements for Foreseeable FMLA Leave, 29 C.F.R. § 825.302 (2024).
Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601-2654 (2018).
Serious Health Condition, 29 C.F.R. § 825.113 (2024).
Reading the HR 420 Unit 2 instructions
For the second HR420 assignment, an employment law case is worked through in issue, rule, application and conclusion form. Set out the facts you will rely on, including numbers that matter to eligibility. State the issue as a question. Then take each element of the law in turn, stating the rule from the statute or regulation and applying it to the facts. Spend the most space on elements that are close, such as hours worked or employees within a distance, and show the calculation. Note where facts should be confirmed before relying on a narrow result. State your conclusion. Then set out what the employer now owes, with timelines. Add a note for the manager whose words started the matter. Many sections expect four to five pages, with one element handled at a time in the order the regulations set out.
How this HR420 Unit 2 example is built
The sample's facts give site headcounts and road distances, the technician's tenure and paid hours, and the timing of his notice. Coverage takes one sentence. The hours element subtracts 56 paid hours off to reach 1,262, with a margin note on reading the definition, and flags the 12-hour margin. The worksite count reaches 57 within 29 miles and excludes a site 80 road miles away, as the highlighted sentence explains. A hip replacement with an overnight stay qualifies, and notice on the day the date was set suffices. The conclusion rejects "doing what he could," and a section lists notices, certification, health coverage and restoration, with a margin note.
Where the points sit in the HR420 Unit 2 rubric
Points in the HR420 case analysis go to accurate rules and careful application. Facts should be stated before any analysis. Each element should be taken in turn, with the rule drawn from the statute or regulation. Close elements earn the most credit when the calculation is shown and the narrow margin acknowledged. Reading definitions precisely, such as hours worked rather than hours paid, shows legal skill. A clear conclusion should follow from the elements. Listing what the employer owes now, with timelines, connects the analysis to practice. A note for the manager shows awareness of how rights are lost informally. Each regulation relied on should appear in the reference list, cited by section in APA 7 legal style.
Common HR420 Unit 2 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Many HR420 case analyses state that the employee is eligible after checking only tenure. Others count hours paid instead of hours worked, or measure distance in a straight line. Students often skip the employer's obligations once eligibility is found. Narrow results are presented as certain. The informal promise that started the case is ignored. Lay out the facts, take each element with its rule, show the calculations, read definitions carefully, flag narrow margins, conclude clearly, list obligations with deadlines and address the manager's role. Bring your leave facts and payroll figures, and our team can help work through each element.
Get an HR420 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Case analyses turn on the facts supplied, so the Unit 2 scenario is the thing to send, exactly as posted, together with the rubric and any statute the instructions name. What returns in 24-48h walks every element through the supplied facts and shows its arithmetic in full. No fee applies to a first sample. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
More HR420 papers and BS in Business Administration (Human Resources) samples
- HR420 Unit 1: Discussion Board Post
- HR420 Unit 3: Discrimination Claim Analysis
- HR420 Unit 4: Accommodation Process Memo
- HR420 Unit 5: Wage and Hour Review
- HR420 Unit 6: Workplace Investigation Report
- HR420 Unit 7: Labor Relations Brief
- HR420 Unit 8: Seminar Reflection
- HR420 Unit 9: Supervisor Guidance Document
- HR420 Unit 10: Risk Management Plan
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- HR400 Unit 2: Job Analysis
HR420 Unit 2 questions, answered
Why subtract paid time off from the hours?
Because FMLA eligibility counts hours actually worked, measured under the same principles the Fair Labor Standards Act uses, and paid vacation, holidays or sick days are not work. The example shows the payroll figure, the deduction and the result on one line, so a reader can check it. A paper using gross paid hours can reach the wrong answer on facts this close.
What if the employer in my scenario is smaller?
Then the federal statute may not cover it, and the analysis says so early, which is itself a correct answer. Many states have leave laws with lower thresholds or broader family definitions, and a paper can note that one may apply without analyzing it unless your instructions ask. Check the scenario's numbers before assuming coverage in either direction.
Is this example legal advice about a leave request?
No. It is coursework showing how an analysis is organized, built on composite facts. A real request depends on payroll records, state law and details a case study leaves out. If you are dealing with an actual leave situation at work, that belongs with your employer's human resources team or an employment lawyer, not with a sample paper.
Where can I find a free HR420 Unit 2 sample paper?
A complete HR420 Unit 2 employment law case analysis is on this page, applying the FMLA to a car wash technician's leave request element by element.
How are the 75 miles measured for FMLA eligibility?
By surface miles over public roads using the shortest route, not straight-line distance. A site close on a map can fall outside the count.