Sure, at one time or another, we’ve all worked for some great bosses and some bad bosses. But nothing can be more debilitating than working for someone who is ignorant of the laws. In the following case, a company president walked right into an FMLA lawsuit because he had never even heard of the Family and Medical Leave Act. He knows about it now ...

Do employees who return from job-protected leave become “untouchable,” even if they perform poorly? Can holding their feet to the performance fire look like retaliation? In this new case, an employer fired a worker just six weeks after her FMLA leave. Six weeks is like a nano-second on the retaliation stop watch. But the court still dismissed the case. Why?

Employees request time off for doctors' appointments all the time. But, do you have to grant them? Could the request trigger FMLA rights, even if the employee was not previously incapacitated or ill for three or more calendar days? A new court ruling says that if an employee simply thinks she has a serious condition, she may be able to take FMLA leave to have it checked out ...

Sometimes, when an employee departs for FMLA leave, you’re almost positive that he or she is incapable of returning to work before the allotted 12 weeks expire. You might as well start processing her termination papers a few days early, right? Not so fast, one court says. If you jump the gun and pre-process the termination—even one day before the FMLA leave ends—you may be triggering liability …

Say you’re just about to terminate an employee but he throws down an EEO trump card, like a request for FMLA leave. Ugg!  If only you could have beat him by a few seconds. Then the firing wouldn’t look like retaliation for his FMLA leave. But a new court ruling says not to worry. If you have a very legitimate reason for firing an employee, even after he requests FMLA leave, you can safely crumble up his trump card and toss it in the shredder …

Your FMLA policy tells employees they can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid FMLA leave each year. But does your policy define “year”? If not, a court may do it for you—in the employee’s favor, of course …

Migraine headaches can be serious business—sometimes requiring FMLA leave. But what if you discover that your migraine-suffering employee used her FMLA time to cut lawns at her side job? An Indiana employer facing that situation recently handled that situation aggressively—and legally …

When was the last time you read your organization’s Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) policy? As a new case shows, it could be creating a contract for employees to gain FMLA-like protection even if they normally wouldn’t be eligible for FMLA under the law. If it does, get ready to stand by your promise …

When the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) surveyed employers about their biggest FMLA administrative challenges, dealing with leave for employees’ own chronic conditions ranked number one. But, surprisingly, not far behind was FMLA leave taken for “caring for a sick parent." With more “sandwich generation” employees taking care of children and parents at the same time, it’s wise to be consistent about requesting certification for all types of FMLA leave, including care for elderly parents.

Have you ever approved FMLA leave for an employee but had a sneaking suspicion that the time off would be used for much more than bed rest? In this new ruling, the company actually videotaped a supposedly injured FMLA-leave taker building a porch on his house. But be careful not to pull out the “You’re Fired!” finger too quickly or you may find yourself in the center of an FMLA retaliation suit....

What should employers do if an employee’s work performance suffers while he or she is taking FMLA intermittent leave? Can you terminate employees when their work falters because of those absences? One court last month sent a clear message: “Don’t go there!”...

Employees with “serious health conditions” can take FMLA leave. But when does that serious condition take effect for employees who need alcohol treatment? Is it when the employee first contacts a doctor to get a referral for in-patient treatment … or is it at the time of check-in? Can you fire an employee for absenteeism prior to going in to rehab? One court ruling last week says you can ...

Employees don’t have to say the magic words, “I am requesting FMLA leave” to earn protection under the FMLA. It’s up to employers to recognize qualifying leave, based on the information provided by employees. But when employees are out for workers’ compensation injuries, must you interpret that as automatic notice that they’re suffering a “serious health condition” that qualifies them for FMLA leave? This new ruling shows how workers’ comp leave can quickly morph into FMLA notice ...

Typically, employees must notify you if they have an FMLA-qualifying “serious” physical or mental condition. But what if the employee, herself, isn’t aware of this need? Is it up to you and your supervisors to recognize any behavior changes that may indicate the presence of a serious FMLA-qualifying condition? In cases of psychiatric problems it likely does, as the following case shows...

Next time you have to decide if an employees’ medical condition is “serious” enough to qualify for FMLA leave, maybe you should grab your Grey’s Anatomy medical book (or maybe just watch the TV show) to brush up on your ability to diagnose. That seems to be what a court is urging in an important ruling that many have overlooked.

What do you do when a chronically absent employee—who’s already received a last-chance warning—is absent again? Do you have to sort out whether that final “last-straw” absence is covered by the FMLA, even if you could have fired the person weeks earlier for being MIA? The answer is unequivocally “yes”...

The U.S. Labor Department issued a report yesterday that said all is not well in the land of FMLA. Shocking, truly shocking! And we in the employer community thought things were so rosy…