Is employee ready to return to work? Provide a list of essential job functions

When an employee wants to return from FMLA, you can require a specific fitness-for-duty certification from the doctor. But you also have to provide the employee with a list of the job’s essential functions for the doctor to use to decide fitness for duty. Otherwise, the doctor’s statement that the employee is fit for work may be very general—and then the employer will be obliged to let the worker return.