Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, employees are entitled to take intermittent leave to deal with a serious health condition. The intermittent leave can be in increments as small as one hour. The employer must maintain...more
Here is a nightmare scenario for human resources: The company sends an employee absent from work the required Family and Medical Leave medical certification form via regular mail. The employee fails to return the form within...more
On November 2, Republican congresswomen introduced legislation that would relieve employers from the growing patchwork of state and local paid employee leave laws in return for their guarantee of certain paid benefits. The...more
In its last round of Family and Medical Leave Act rule revisions, the Department of Labor recognized employers’ rights to establish notice procedures for employees who need to miss work due to intermittent and other legally...more
Despite the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s more nuanced position, federal courts have generally rejected attempts by plaintiffs to claim that an indefinite leave of absence is a required reasonable accommodation...more
The Family and Medical Leave Act entitles eligible employees to up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year for, among other things, care of a spouse, parent, or child with a serious health condition (SHC). What happens to these...more
Perhaps the most frequent question we receive with regard to employee medical leave involves the following scenario: An employee requests and is provided family and medical leave. Upon the expiration of the 12-week FMLA...more
Employees taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) are entitled to be reinstated to their previous job or to an equivalent position. The equivalent position must be the substantially the same in terms of...more
When an employee seeks Family and Medical Leave for a serious health condition, the company routinely gives the employee requesting the leave the DOL medical certification form to be completed by their healthcare provider. In...more
Employers sometimes defend retaliation claims by responding that the person or persons making the adverse employment decision was not aware of the plaintiff’s prior complaint. In the employment discrimination context, the...more
When an employee tests positive for illegal drug use or self-discloses such use, many employers condition return to work on the employee’s participation in a substance abuse treatment program. These programs can include drug...more
Most employers know that qualified employees are entitled under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to take unpaid leave from work to care for a spouse, child or parent with a serious health condition. What happens when...more
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) does not require employers to agree to allow employees to work from home based on medical restrictions. The Americans with Disabilities Act may require employers to provide such...more
Employees approved for unscheduled intermittent Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) can drive their employers crazy. While most such employees use the leave responsibly for true medical conditions, employers sometimes notice a...more
Employees on approved Family and Medical Leave are entitled to reinstatement upon return to the same or an equivalent position. Commonly, when the employee is absent on leave, the employer discovers work performance issues...more
Here is a common human resource scenario: An employee goes out of work on medical leave. While she is away from work, the managers or co-workers who cover her duties discover that the work can be readily accomplished without...more
7/19/2016
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Legitimate Business Interest ,
Medical Leave ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Reduction in Hours ,
Reinstatement ,
Summary Judgment ,
Wage and Hour
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2002 Ragsdale decision rejected Department of Labor regulations stating that failure to provide employees with notice of leave rights was a per se violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act....more
The Family and Medical Leave Act imposes liability for interference by the “employer” with leave rights. Typically, the disgruntled employee asserts FMLA claims against the company employing him or her, but the Act also...more
Intermittent leave continues to pose some of the most vexing Family and Medical Leave Act problems for employers. Employees eligible for intermittent FMLA leave frequently miss work without advance notice, leaving the...more
Family and Medical Leave Act contains a two-year statute of limitations for claims of interference with or retaliation against protected employee activity. Last month, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals faced questions over...more
Employers that receive requests for accommodation made by a disabled employee must remain careful about making significant changes to that employee’s terms and conditions of employment prior to concluding review and...more
In some situations, employees taking Family and Medical Leave were on shaky grounds with regard to their continuing employment prior to the absence. The employer then moves to terminate the employee either while he remains on...more
When requesting medical certification of the need for FMLA leave, most employers rely on the U.S. Department of Labor’s certification forms. DOL publishes four medical certification forms, based on the specific kind of FMLA...more
Federal courts rarely hear litigation over the question of whether an employee’s medical condition rises to the level of a Serious Health Condition (SHC) under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The bar for demonstrating a SHC...more
Last week, the Department of Labor issued new regulations changing the definition of “spouse” under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Eligible employees may take FMLA leave to care for a spouse with a serious health...more