FMLA

Warn supervisors: Never harass or retaliate against workers who take FMLA leave

03/02/2020

Train your supervisors on all forms of harassment, including harassment against employees who exercise their FMLA rights. Making life difficult for those who have taken or may take protected FMLA leave can backfire badly.

Employee misses work? Check FMLA eligibility

02/27/2020

Once an employer realizes leave might be FMLA-covered, it must send the employee an FMLA eligibility notice. That way, the employee knows how to formally request leave. Failing to send the notice after suspecting the employee is eligible is a separate FMLA violation.

Comply with the law when requiring employees to work overtime

02/18/2020

In general, employers have the right to require employees to work overtime, as long as they are properly paid for the additional hours. However, that right is not unlimited.

Provide FMLA forms as soon as you suspect serious health condition

02/18/2020

When an employee requests FMLA leave or even just asks about leave for a serious health condition, make sure you provide the proper FMLA forms. Never brush off such a request or tell him he doesn’t need to “apply” for FMLA leave.

Flu season is here! FMLA, ADA and objections to vaccines

12/20/2019

Influenza season is well underway, and there is every indication that the flu bug will bite lots of workers this winter. Many will need time off to recover. That raises two important questions: Is that leave protected by the FMLA? Can employees lawfully refuse to get flu shots?

Spotted error in administering FMLA leave? Fix it fast to show your good faith

12/20/2019

The FMLA has strict rules on how and when to designate an employee’s time off as FMLA leave. However, if you make a technical error but act quickly to correct it, you probably won’t face liability if an employee sues for an FMLA violation.

Flu days and the FMLA don’t always go together

12/19/2019

According to the Department of Labor in an opinion letter to an inquiring employer, you can require employees to take unpaid FMLA leave, even if they’d rather use paid sick leave.

Prior service counts toward FMLA eligibility

12/02/2019

To be eligible for job-protected FMLA leave, employees must have worked for you for at least one year and for 1,250 hours in the preceding year. The minimum one-year service requirement, however, doesn’t have to be met by a single, uninterrupted 52-week period.

Discover wrongdoing during FMLA? Fire away

11/14/2019

It’s natural to worry about terminating an employee who is out on FMLA leave. However, the FMLA does not prohibit employers from making employment decisions that they would have made anyway if the employee had never taken leave.

Understand interplay between FMLA, ADA when employee must care for family member

11/07/2019

Employees may have the right to take time off to care for a disabled family member under the FMLA, but the same isn’t true under the ADA for a request for reasonable accommodations of time off to care for the same family member.