FMLA Insights - Guidance & Solutions for Employers

Under the FMLA, an employer's obligation to provide leave arises only after an employee gives notice that he or she needs FMLA leave. However, it is well-established that an employee need not explicitly mention the FMLA when requesting leave. Rather, an employee's notice is sufficient if it gives the employer enough information to reasonably conclude that the employee may need leave for an FMLA-qualifying reason. Determining whether an employee's request for leave meets this requirement is a difficult proposition, particularly when the employee appears to be using the request to avoid instructions or shield himself from discipline. A recent... More

Managing long-term intermittent leave has long been one of the central problems for employers administering FMLA leave. Particularly problematic is the employee who presents a certification suggesting that he or she will need unscheduled leave with little or no notice to the employer over a period of months or years based upon self-diagnosed, unverifiable symptoms such as pain or fatigue. A recent decision by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals suggests that, at least in some cases, such a leave request need not be granted because the need for frequent, unscheduled, unpredictable leave over an extended period of time can... More

In a ruling that broadens employee protections under the Family and Medical Leave Act, a federal appellate court recently held that an employee may advance FMLA interference and retaliation claims even when the employee requested but did not take FMLA leave. Erdman v. Nationwide Insurance Company (pdf). The Facts In Erdman, the plaintiff requested to use vacation time to prepare her daughter with Down Syndrome for the beginning of the school year.  Her employer, Nationwide Insurance Company. denied the request.  Erdman then requested FMLA leave, submitted paperwork in support of her request, and was advised that there were no anticipated... More