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FMLA

How to Wipe Out Fraud and Abuse Under FMLA

02/16/2024
The medical certification process is your most potent weapon for combating potential FMLA fraud. But obtaining a certification is only the first fraud-stopping step. Here are 10 more things you can do to keep employees from gaming the FMLA system.

Develop a process for extending FMLA leave

01/26/2024
Every employer needs a clear process for handling requests for additional time off after an employee exhausts FMLA leave. How you handle those requests can make the difference between winning and losing a disability discrimination lawsuit.

Help employees who are experiencing infertility and pregnancy loss

12/19/2023
There’s a good chance at least some of your employees may need accommodations as well as leave as they attempt to conceive, remain pregnant or deliver a child.

Count FMLA leave during the holidays the right way

11/21/2023
Dec. 24 and 31 fall on Sundays this year. Some employers may give employees the two preceding Fridays off, to show their appreciation for a job well done. Other employers may close for the holiday week. These closures can complicate the calculation of employees’ FMLA leave.

How to accommodate employees affected by sleep disorders, insomnia

10/19/2023
Together with insomnia, many sleep disorders may qualify as both disabilities under the ADA (warranting reasonable accommodations) and serious health conditions under the FMLA (entitling employees to take blocks of leave or intermittent leave for treatment or rest)

Consider addressing menopause care with your company’s portfolio of benefits

09/27/2023
According to a new study by the Mayo Clinic, employees going through menopause are more likely to miss work, cut back to part-time status or even quit. That can mean losing employees at an age when their experience and talent are at their peak.

Schedule changed after FMLA leave? Be able to show why

09/20/2023
If you need to make a schedule change after a worker returns from FMLA leave, have (and document) a legitimate business reason.

Ensure supervisors understand laws that prohibit pregnancy discrimination

09/20/2023
If recent EEOC actions are any indication, employers that don’t properly train supervisors and hiring managers about pregnancy discrimination will wind up defending themselves in court.

New pregnancy regulations to hit small employers hard

09/15/2023
If you have fewer than 50 workers, you haven’t had to worry about providing job-protected FMLA leave for pregnant employees or new parents. However, a new federal law—the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act—has changed all that for small employers with 15 or more employees. If you meet that threshold, the PWFA now requires you to accommodate many pregnancy-related conditions, complications and limitations.

When it’s OK to pile on work following FMLA leave

09/08/2023
When employees take FMLA leave, they have the right to return to the same or an equivalent position. “Equivalent” means the job has the same pay, benefits and working conditions as before. But jobs often evolve, even when the jobholder is off on FMLA leave. And sometimes, that means an employee will return to a job that’s somewhat different.