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
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
Managing FMLA Red Flags and Staying Ahead of the Trends: A Recap of our Webinar
Thanks to those who attended my webinar last week with Ellen McCann on “Managing Red Flags and Staying Ahead of the Trends.”
In a mere hour, Ellen and I covered a number of hot FMLA topics and trends, such as:
- Conducting an effective investigation after you obtain photos or information through social media suggesting that
Can an Employee Decline FMLA Leave Even though the Absence is Covered by the Act?
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