On August 28, 2018, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued an opinion letter clarifying the permissibility of no-fault attendance policies under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Employers frequently use no-fault attendance polices to control employee absenteeism and tardiness; however, such attendance policies can create issues under federal employment laws including the FMLA and Americans with Disabilities Act. The Department of Labor has previously cautioned employers that FMLA-related absences cannot be counted toward an employee’s absence limit, and in its most recent opinion letter it found that an employer’s no-fault attendance policy that essentially “froze” the number of attendance points an employee had accrued prior to his or her taking leave did not violate the FMLA.
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