Let’s put our heads together on this one. You see, it appears as though far too many employees have bought into the notion that their employer is always responsible for the cost of obtaining medical certification to support an FMLA-related absence. Case in point: just last week, a client called me for help after one
Conquering the FMLA Medical Certification Process: A Recap of our Webinar
Thanks to those who attended my webinar last week with Matt Morris on “Conquering the FMLA Medical Certification Process: Best Practices for Employers.”
We covered a whole host of topics during the webinar: How does an employer handle an employee who does not return medical certification? Or one that is vague and ambiguous? How should
Join Me for an FMLA Webinar: “Conquering the FMLA Medical Certification Process: Best Practices for Employers”
It’s webinar time!
FMLA Medical certification is designed to help employers better understand an employee’s medical condition and their need for time off from work. So, why does such a helpful tool tend to create angst, confusion and frustration within the employer community?
Let’s tackle medical certification head on! Please join us on Thursday, December
Take 2: Does Annual FMLA Certification First Require an Employee’s Absence?
The feedback from last week’s blog post on annual FMLA certification came fast and furious. Most of it was complimentary (thank you!), but several of my fellow FMLA nerds raised an interesting issue. They noted that the FMLA regulation covering “annual” certifications does not specifically state that the certification in the new FMLA
DOL Busts Employer for Requiring Annual Medical Certification without Leave Request
The DOL is on a roll, and employers can’t be amused. Over the past few months, the Department of Labor seemingly has issued statement after statement after statement announcing settlements it has reached with various employers in conjunction with alleged FMLA violations. Heck, DOL now even has its own blog highlighting its recent FMLA enforcement
Is Your Employee Paying a Deception Service to Provide You a Fake Doctor’s Note or FMLA Certification?
Have you ever suspected that your employee has given you an excuse too rehearsed or provided a doctor’s note a bit too slick in support of their leave of absence? Don’t be fooled: they actually might be paying for the excuse.
Just when we thought we’d seen it all. According to a report from the
Employee Fired for Absences Exceeding his Certification Can Raise a Viable FMLA Claim
Have you ever made a rash decision that you wish you could take back the second you made it? One employer must feel that way right about now. Last week, a federal court refused to dismiss FMLA claims made against the employer by an employee who was terminated for exceeding the number of “episodes” of
I Believe My Employee is Unfit to Return to Work. Can I Require a Full Medical Examination Before His Return?
Have you ever doubted whether one of your employees actually was fit to return to work from a leave of absence?
Take this situation I counseled a client through a few months back: one of their employees texted a suicide note — to about 40 of his co-workers. Not surprisingly, it turned the workplace upside
When an Employer Provides More Parental Leave to Mom than Dad, is this Gender Discrimination?
I received a ton of feedback on last week’s blog post, which discussed Yahoo’s new parental leave policy and its FMLA implications. Much of the feedback related to Yahoo’s decision to provide 16 weeks of paid maternity leave to female employees and 8 weeks of paid paternity leave to male employees. Some wondered whether such
Yahoo’s Sweetened Parental Leave Policy Raises Practical FMLA Certification Issues for Moms and Dads in the Workplace
It seems that what Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer taketh, she giveth back. Or something like that.
As you will recall, Mayer made waves several months back when she banned all Yahoo employees from working from home, a rather controversial move seen by some as unfriendly to working parents. Now, in an interesting twist, Yahoo