I received a ton of feedback last week in response to my post about whether an employee can decline FMLA leave even though the absence qualifies under the Act. One question, in particular, was thrown at me repeatedly, and it went something like this:
In our workplace, when an employee doesn’t want to take
I just returned from Disney World, a trip that had me chasing my kids (ages 8, 6 and 4) for days on end. So, I’m tired. And I ache. My feet ache. My back aches from my four year old riding on my shoulders. My head aches from thinking about my back. Even my aches
Q: We regularly utilize temporary employees, some of whom we hire permanently. Does the time they work as a temp (through an agency) count toward the 12-month and 1,250 hour eligibility requirements?
A: An employee is eligible to take FMLA leave when, among other things, he/she has worked for the employer for 12 months (which,
Q: Is an Employer Liable for Overtime Pay and similar damages for an FMLA Violation?
A: The FMLA provides for a broad range of damages in the event an employer is liable for an FMLA violation. The statute states that an employee may be awarded “any wages, salary, employment benefits, or other compensation denied or
Here’s a question from the client inquiry line this past week, and it pops up often enough that I figured I would share:
Q: An employee on maternity leave contacted us two months into leave that she will not be returning to work at the end of FMLA leave (which now is one month away).
Q: One of our employees will be absent for a serious health condition. However, the employee prefers to use his accrued sick days instead of FMLA leave. He has enough sick time to cover the absence. In this situation, can the employee choose not to take FMLA leave, either because he has not specifically asked
Q: An employee who recently returned from FMLA leave claims that a portion of his leave of absence should not count against his FMLA entitlement because he responded to a number of work-related e-mails and telephone calls while he was out. Can we still count this time as FMLA leave?
A: I have fielded this
Q: Can an Employer Deny FMLA Leave to An Employee Who Is Not Yet Eligible to Take Leave?
A. It depends, particularly after a federal appellate court handed down a ruling on this very issue last week.
The underlying story is straightforward: On October 5, 2008, Kathryn Pereda began working for Brookdale, which operates senior
In a flurry of activity at the end of 2011, several employers contacted me to determine whether the DOL notice and certification forms still were valid, even though they contain an expiration date of December 31, 2011. In short, employers may continue to use the DOL’s FMLA forms, although consider our suggestions below before using
Q. We provide our employees “non-FMLA” leave after they have worked for us for six months. They are given up to six weeks off during that time if it can be certified by a physician. Since these employees are not eligible for FMLA leave at this point, can we credit the time they took off against their