Ed was an autoworker who dealt with apparent bouts of depression for which he sought intermittent FMLA leave. But he also had fistfuls of unexcused absences, so much so that he stood on the precipice of termination — one attendance point away, to be exact.

Like many good employers, Ed’s employer required him to call

I’ve often wondered — in fact, even discussed with clients — whether an employer could safely approve an employee’s FMLA-related absence and discipline the employee because he failed to timely report the absence.

I’ve theorized that an employer could pull off both because the discipline punished the late call-in, not the FMLA leave.

But I’ve

Kelly, an administrative assistant for Penn State Health, racked up quite a few absences over a short period of time. Some of these absences related to GI issues that ordinarily would be covered by the FMLA.

In Kelly’s case, however, she repeatedly failed to timely report these absences, which led to attendance points.

Penn State

The Department of Labor is quickly catching up to the telemedicine explosion and America’s remote workplace.

In an effort to ease FMLA administration and address the lightning-fast move toward telemedicine visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, the DOL issued guidance yesterday making clear that a telemedicine visit with a health care provider can be used to

Let me start with a toast.

A toast to the Department of Labor, which was thrust into a spotlight it didn’t seek. After Congress hastily cobbled together a bunch of confusing words on paper providing many American workers with a modest amount of paid sick leave and amending the FMLA to do the same, DOL