Thanks to those who attended my webinar last week with Matt Morris on “Complying with the FMLA and ADA When Your Employee is Dealing with a Mental Health Condition.” A link to the recording can be found here, and the presentation can be downloaded here. To those who attended, thank you. To those who missed it, you … Continue Reading
When a manager learns that one of his employees is in the hospital for several days, that’s almost always enough information for the employer to have an inkling that the employee may need FMLA leave. But one employer didn’t think so. And the penalty for its mistake was costly. Let me explain. The Facts Grace worked for the … Continue Reading
Poorly implemented FMLA policies and procedures are in the spotlight this week. And just a few vague words and a slip up are costing two employers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Their mistakes, however, are golden lessons for the rest of us. Confusion Over How Much Maternity Leave is Provided In Sad Employer Story No. … Continue Reading
I recently had an interesting call with a DOL investigator, and I wanted to share it with you. First, let me set the background. I represent a large national employer with multi-state locations, including several on the east coast. One of these east coast locations employed Johnny [name changed to protect the guilty], a serial … Continue Reading
As employers, we face a sobering reality: at every turn, the FMLA sets us up to fail. Whether it’s deciphering medical certification, assessing fitness for duty upon return to work, or dealing with the always frustrating intermittent leave, the FMLA is full of booby traps ready to nail us the instant we slip up. Chief among these … Continue Reading
There 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 and … Continue Reading
A question was posed to me on Twitter this past week: Shouldn’t former University of Southern California (USC) football coach Steve Sarkisian have been placed on FMLA leave to get treatment for apparent alcoholism instead of getting sacked by USC? [Pun intended, of course.] For those of you not familiar with Mr. Sarkisian, according to multiple … Continue Reading
Do you require your employees to fill out a form or an application to request leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act? If not, are you thinking of changing to such an approach? Either way, pay attention to this story about Carrie, whose particular leave situation is instructive for employers. The Facts Carrie was a bus … Continue Reading
This one just smells fowl. Delbert (not sure if he goes by Del or Bert, so I’ll just call him Delbert) decided not to show up for work at Tyson Fresh Meats on December 28. Instead, he asked his girlfriend, who also worked for Tyson, to report his absence for him. She obliged and told Delbert’s … Continue Reading
It’s the final week of the year, so while everyone else in the world is playing with their latest version of iPhone and other new electronic gadgets, I spend my time analyzing this year’s FMLA blog posts and agonizing over how I can deliver the FMLA to your virtual door in an even more efficient … Continue Reading
This one is a real headache. Sam oversees a storage area for the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) and during certain times of the year, his position requires a fairly extensive amount of overtime. For years, Sam has suffered from “cluster headaches,” which are far worse than migraines and can last for days. Sam’s physician … Continue Reading
Note to self: When one of my employees: falls off a ladder at work, is taken to urgent care by the company’s HR Director, asks whether the FMLA would apply to his absence, then, as a result of his doctor’s orders, takes a multi-week absence after the fall from the ladder… I’m going to side … Continue Reading
Thanks to those who attended my webinar last week with Ellen McCann on “Managing Red Flags and Staying Ahead of the Trends.” If you missed the program, you can access the webinar and materials here. In a mere hour, Ellen and I covered a number of hot FMLA topics and trends, such as: Conducting an … Continue Reading
We have a mini-FMLA crisis on our hands this week, and the courts are to blame. This issue involves the FMLA notices that employers send to employees, but more importantly, the delivery route in which they send them. You may recall that, a couple months back, I analyzed a decision by a federal appellate court which … Continue Reading
With all the FMLA paperwork that a leave administrator has to provide an employee during the FMLA process, you’d wonder whether you’re attending a real estate closing. All these documents — whether it’s the Notice of Eligibility, medical certification, or the Designation Notice — typically get sent by good old fashioned snail mail, delivered by … Continue Reading
There must be something in the water, but several clients have asked me this week whether they are required to pay an employee for the Memorial Day holiday even though the employee was out on FMLA leave. Interesting question, and the answer is fairly straightforward: treat them the same way you would treat another employee … Continue Reading
Here’s a shout out to all you employers out there who forget to send your employees the proper FMLA notices when they seek leave for a reason covered by the FMLA. Occasionally, the courts have your back, despite your lack of attention to detail. As I have discussed before, when an employer is put on … Continue Reading
What do you do when one of your employees has informed you of what clearly is an FMLA-triggering event (she needs to care for her dad who is seriously ill in the hospital), but then tells you she doesn’t want the absence designated as FMLA leave? I’ll share my opinion below, but in the meantime, … Continue Reading
Hello…hello…hello…is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone home? Have your employees have become so evasive in their requests for medical leave that you feel like signing Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” to get them to talk? Have no fear — you don’t have to become that numb … Continue Reading
Employers, can we have a heart to heart? I need to get something off my chest. You see, I’ve witnessed a disturbing trend lately in the court cases I’m reading and in your FMLA practices: too many of you are not recognizing when an employee’s leave request may be covered by the FMLA. Let me … Continue Reading
The Department of Labor was serious when it required employers beginning in 2009 to provide individual FMLA notices to employees regarding their eligibility and rights (Notice of Eligibility and Rights & Responsibilities) and whether FMLA applies (Designation Notice). Apparently, courts think this is important, too. And The Wackenhut Corporation learned this lesson the hard way. The Facts Jacqueline … Continue Reading
I came across an interesting FMLA case this past week, and the facts are simple enough that it kept my attention. [In the age of Twitter and Facebook, anything beyond a 30-second sound byte and you might as well give me a blanket for a long-winter’s nap. Right?] However, the lesson from the case should … Continue Reading
Later this week, I am conducting FMLA training for management employees at one of our clients. The training will focus on how the employer can utilize its own current personnel policies to properly administer FMLA leave and combat FMLA abuse. During this training, I am going to tell them about Ritenour v. State of Tennessee. … Continue Reading
Often enough, HR professionals tell me that they have a difficult time recognizing when an employee has provided adequate notice of the need for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. A recent court case reminds us that: 1) the threshold for requesting leave is not that high; and 2) employers have an obligation to … Continue Reading
