Earlier this year, the Department of Labor made clear in an opinion letter that neither an employee nor an employer may decline FMLA leave where an eligible employee is absent for an FMLA-qualifying reason. As the DOL noted in this March 2019 opinion letter, this is particularly true even where the employee would prefer that
DOL Declares That Parent Attendance at School IEP Meetings Are Covered by the FMLA
If I gave you a million tries, you’d never guess that the next Department of Labor FMLA opinion letter would answer the question [wait for it . . .]: Is an employee’s attendance at a child’s IEP meeting covered by the FMLA?
The Answer? Yes. Most definitely, yes.
In an opinion
Can an Employee Decline FMLA Leave Even though the Absence is Covered by the FMLA? According to the DOL, the Answer is an Emphatic “NO.”
Every one of you employs at least one of these employees — you know, the one who:
- requests medical leave because of, let’s say, his uromysitisis poisoning (clearly, an FMLA-qualifying condition); but
- wants to use his accrued paid leave instead of tapping into FMLA?
He might even get indignant, insisting that the law allows him
DOL Issues Opinion Letter Allowing Employers to Avoid Payment for Excessive 15-Minute FMLA Breaks; Employers Yawn
Last June, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that it would again issue opinion letters to assist employers and employees in interpreting laws like the FMLA and Fair Labor Standards Act. It was a welcome change as far as the employer community was concerned.
Then we waited.
And waited.
Finally, the day came: April