Monday, February 6, 2012 is a bittersweet day for employers across New York and elsewhere. Just hours earlier, their employees watched the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. For these employers, however, many of their employees won’t be at work Monday morning. The reason? In a 2008 survey conducted by The
Employee Who Abused FMLA Leave Around the Holidays Properly Terminated
Employers often complain that they see an uptick in the use of sick leave and FMLA leave around the holidays. In the case of Southwest Airlines, however, one employee clearly took FMLA misuse a bit too far.
Douglas Rydalch was a reservation sales agent for Southwest. When Southwest closed its reservation center in Salt
Will Employers Soon Use GPS to Catch FMLA Abuse?
Earlier this week, the folks at the Texas Employment Law Update highlighted a case before the U.S. Supreme Court in which the high court will consider whether law enforcement’s placement of a GPS devise on a suspect’s vehicle without a warrant constitutes an unlawful search in violation of the Fourth Amendment. This case led the authors to
Employee’s FMLA Claim Dismissed After Taking a Trip to Cancun
Employees should think twice before setting off on a Cancun vacation while out on FMLA leave. In an FMLA decision that smacks of pure common sense, a federal court has upheld an employer’s reasonable work rules that restricted an employee’s travel outside the immediate vicinity while on FMLA leave. Pellegrino v. CWA (pdf).
The Facts
Play Ball! An FMLA Lineup That Keeps You in the Pennant Race
In this opening weekend of major league baseball, hope springs eternal for every baseball fan. In honor of my beloved Chicago White Sox, I offer an FMLA lineup card below that from top to bottom will help employers stay atop the pennant race throughout the year.
[First, feel free to play the National Anthem if you so desire…]
From the Leadoff Hitter to the end of the lineup, here are my FMLA All Stars:Continue Reading Play Ball! An FMLA Lineup That Keeps You in the Pennant Race
An Employer’s FMLA Nightmare? Hooters Offers Fake “Doctor’s Notes” to Skip Work During NCAA Tourney
Over the upcoming weeks, when Carl the Custodian is missing from your workplace, you may want to give your local Hooters Restaurant a call. He just might be there watching the NCAA tournament.
Hooters has unveiled a marvelous marketing ploy to get customers through their doors during the NCAA tournament — the Company is offering doctor’s
Suffering from Super Bowl-Induced FMLA Leave?
This morning, the sound of the morning alarm was harsh reality for scores of employees throughout Wisconsin. After celebrating a Packers Super Bowl victory late into the night (a bitter pill for this Bears fan to swallow!), they have no interest in dragging themselves out of bed and heading into work. For employers, you need not be located in Wisconsin to suffer the effects of the Super Bowl. Case in point — I was talking with an HR professional (located outside of WI.) last week who was not looking forward to the day after Super Bowl Sunday, when she spends much of her day processing leave of absence requests — nearly all of which come from employees who called off right before the Monday morning shift started.
Some of the employees have fairly legitimate reasons for their absences (“My son, Johnnie, ate Aunt Erma’s chili last night and he can’t keep anything down this morning); others phone in ambiguous reasons such as, “I am taking FMLA again today,” or “Remember that thing I was dealing with three weeks ago … well, it’s acting up again.”
For HR professionals, the employer response to these phone calls is one of the most difficult they face: Do I count this as an ordinary sick day? Do I ask for more information? Can I ask for more information? What precise “thing” is “acting up” again? Does this information trigger FMLA leave?
What can an employer do to obtain more information from the employee in these situations?Continue Reading Suffering from Super Bowl-Induced FMLA Leave?
Complimentary Webinar: Identifying, Managing and Preventing FMLA Abuse
Join over 500 people who already have signed up for our complimentary FMLA Webinar, which will take place next Wednesday, September 29 from 12:00 to 1:15 p.m. CDT. The Webinar will address a common issue that has plagued too many HR professionals — employee abuse of FMLA leave. We will identify the most
He Shoots . . . and Misses! Does the World Cup Invite FMLA Abuse?
A couple weeks ago, as I was preparing a witness for his deposition (in a Title VII and FMLA case), it dawned on both of us that his deposition would take place mere hours after the deciding Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Upon this realization, his face grew a bit pale, and he began wondering out loud whether he would be in the best shape for a deposition the day after a Chicago Blackhawks victory. [Insert here: visions of a late night at the local pub.]
No worries — both my client and the Blackhawks came out on top. However, the more I considered the above exchange, the more I wondered whether this scenario raises a common issue for employers as they administer FMLA leave — Do major sporting events, such as the Stanley Cup and ongoing World Cup, invite widespread abuse of FMLA leave?Continue Reading He Shoots . . . and Misses! Does the World Cup Invite FMLA Abuse?