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
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
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
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
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
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
When an employee’s request for medical leave is vague or is unclear, the Family and Medical Leave Act regulations specifically allow (in fact, they require) the employer to question the employee further to determine whether the absence potentially qualifies under the FMLA. When the employee fails to respond to these reasonable inquiries, the employee may lose the right to FMLA protection.
Such was the case for Robert Righi. In a fantastic opinion for employers, a federal appellate court recently upheld the dismissal of Mr. Righi’s FMLA claim because he failed to respond to his supervisor’s telephone calls inquiring about his need for a leave of absence. Righi v. SMC Corporation of America
The Facts
Righi, a salesman for SMC Corp., was the primary caretaker for his mother, who regularly suffered complications from diabetes. As a result, Righi often took FMLA leave to care for her. On the occasion at issue, however, he asked for time off after his mother accidentally overdosed on her medication. Continue Reading Employee’s Failure to Return Supervisor’s Phone Calls Dooms FMLA Claim
Employers frustrated with their employees’ lack of communication during FMLA leave have found a friend in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. In what must be described as a solid win for employers, the appellate court (which covers IL, IN and WI) affirmed the dismissal of a former employee’s Family and Medical Leave Act claim against the company that fired her after she failed to provide proper notice under the company’s policies for an extension of leave. Brown v. Automotive Components Holdings, LLC, and Ford Motor Co.Continue Reading Failure to Follow Employer’s Leave Procedures Dooms FMLA Claim
For employers, it pays to listen closely to the reason for which an employee requests time off, since the reason may not always be covered by the FMLA. Kind of like occasions when the employee tells you he needs time off to clean his mother’s flooded basement.
Take Joe Lane, a medical technologist for Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital. Joe, who lived with his mother, sought and was granted FMLA intermittent FMLA leave for six months to care for his mom, who suffered from diabetes, high blood pressure, weight loss and arthritis. He needed leave from time to time to provide her food and transport her to doctors’ appointments, which he did without issue for the next four months.
For Joe, when it rains, it pours. Literally. Right into his mother’s basement. Joe was absent for four consecutive days and, in violation of the Hospital’s personnel policies, he failed to call in his absences. Thereafter, he informed the Hospital that he would need additional time off to clean up flooding in his mom’s basement. He claimed that the “flood cleaning days” should be excused because his mother had hepatitis and the stagnant water was a “breeding ground” for the disease. The Hospital disagreed and fired him.
At that moment, Joe’s FMLA claims went down the drain.Continue Reading Cleaning Up Mom’s Flooded Basement Not Protected by FMLA