It does not disqualify her, because the qualifying year only has to fall somewhere inside the three years before filing. The fourteen months worked since her return can serve as that year on their own.
Pick the clean twelve months and say so
The requirement is one continuous year of full-time employment with the qualifying organization during the three-year period preceding the petition. Leave is not employment for that count, so a file that presents four years of service and leaves the officer to discover a ten-month gap invites a request for evidence. A file that names a specific twelve-month block, evidenced by payroll and a human-resources letter, answers the question before it is asked. Where the return to work is recent enough that no clean block exists, the honest options are to wait until one does or to file after the anniversary rather than to characterise leave as employment. Time she may have spent in the United States during that block on short business trips does not count as employment abroad, so keep those trips short and documented and do not build the twelve months around them.
Hypothetical example: a manufacturer of elevator-control panels wants to transfer a technical specialist whose service was interrupted by a personal sabbatical. The first review should identify one full year of actual, qualifying employment in the three years before filing and match it to payroll records. A leave letter settles why the gap occurred but does not supply the missing work time. If the twelve-month period is not yet available, set a filing date after it matures rather than treating accumulated experience as interchangeable with the required continuous period.