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Jeff Nowak is a shareholder at Littler Mendelson P.C., the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management.  Jeff represents employers in all areas of labor and employment law, but his passion is the FMLA -- he eats, drinks and sleeps all things FMLA!

ConfusedThere is a hot debate brewing over the tantalizing question, “Does a request for FMLA leave also constitute a request for a reasonable accommodation under the ADA?” The worlds of FMLA and ADA clash!

Surely, this question ranks up there with life’s unanswered questions.  You know, questions like: When does it stop being partly cloudy

Frank, your night custodian, reports that he suffers from Crohn’s disease, a chronic condition that will cause him to miss work when the condition flares up from time to time, including his absence yesterday. Cleaning floors causes him a great deal of stress, which in turn exacerbates his medical condition, and yesterday was one of

absent-workersThanks again to those who attended my June 23 webinar with EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum on the topic of “leave” as an ADA reasonable accommodation in light of the EEOC’s new technical resource issued on this topic in early May 2016.

This is the second part of a two-part blog post in which I recap

eeocLast Thursday, I had the pleasure of conducting a webinar with EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum on the topic of “leave” as an ADA reasonable accommodation in light of the EEOC’s new technical resource issued on this topic in early May 2016. If you missed the program, you can access the webinar materials here. In

paid sick daysThis past week, paid sick leave legislation that is about to become law in Chicago.  It’s significant because it reflects a growing number of states and cities joining the mandated paid leave bandwagon.

Because the impending law will affect all of your operations located in Chicago, I provide analysis here:

Last week, Chicago became poised

EEOC-bannerFor years, employers across America have been clamoring for guidance from the EEOC about how they should manage an employee’s request for extended or intermittent leave from work and how much leave is considered as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. This week, employers received an answer.

Well, kind of.

Yesterday, the EEOC issued a

New York paid family leave 1Could this be a game-changer when it comes to paid family and sick leave?

Yesterday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law what is being dubbed the country’s longest and most comprehensive paid family leave program, which allows employees partially paid leave to care for a family member or a newborn child.

New York

Dr LoveA couple of clients have asked me recently whether a health care provider can use his/her own medical certification form or “doctor’s note” to support the employee’s need for FMLA leave, or can we require the HCP to use the employer’s form. Or what if the HCP charges a fee to complete the form?  What