The FMLA allows employers that don’t want to accept an employee’s medical certification to ask for (and pay for) a second opinion. If the two opinions...
Employees who are so sick they need FMLA leave certainly can’t perform essential job functions while on leave. Employers must alter their workload expectations...
A federal court has rejected Hersha Hospitality Management’s request to toss out an FMLA interference lawsuit filed by an employee who had only worked for the...
Supervisors who handle employee return-to-work requests following FMLA leave must know what they are doing. Otherwise, your legal risk could rise significantly.
Most pregnancies proceed normally, with little or no real trouble for the mother. However, that’s not always the case. When things go wrong, the mother-to-be may...
Employees are supposed to get FMLA certifications back to their employers within 15 days. But it’s not a good idea to terminate an employee simply because you...
Is it protected activity that can’t be punished if an employee who is not yet eligible asks to take FMLA leave? Put another way, can an employer fire an employee...
If you were going to terminate an employee before you learned she wanted FMLA leave, you still can. Just be sure you can document when and why the termination decision...
Q. How long do we have to hold a position for an employee on maternity leave if we employ fewer than 50 people? Our company policy says eight weeks, but what I...
The FMLA is difficult to administer, especially now that it has been amended to include additional time off in connection with military service. Plus, new FMLA...
Managing FMLA intermittent leave can be vexing, but employers do have some tools to combat leave abuse. One of the most important is FMLA certification. Here are four...
The U.S. Department of Labor last month released the Employee’s Guide to the FMLA, a 16-page booklet describing employee rights and duties under the law.
Some new parents don’t want to come back to work full time after giving birth. They may prefer a part-time schedule, using intermittent FMLA leave. But you...
Sometimes, an employee needs just a few hours of FMLA leave to make a doctor’s appointment or to drive a relative to treatment. What if the employee wants to take...
It’s perfectly legitimate to prohibit recreational travel during any approved, paid sick leave. If you also happen to substitute paid sick leave for unpaid FMLA...
Employees who take FMLA leave are entitled to return to their job or to an equivalent one. If the FMLA absence necessitated hiring a replacement, there’s no...
Some employees believe all they have to do to invoke FMLA leave protection is call in sick and wait for their employer to request medical certification. Wrong! Merely...