Your employee, Johnny, is one of your poor performers. Upon receiving his latest written warning, he requests a leave of absence due to anxiety from working in a hostile work environment.

Tell me you’ve seen this one before.

Apparently, Johnny’s boss was guilty of being too direct. 

The next day, Johnny texts in a note

Happy 30th birthday, you wonderful old FMLA! 

Break out the band aids and ace bandages! It’s time to celebrate a special birthday for our favorite federal statute.

All weekend, I’ve been singing Harry Styles’ song “As It Was” to the Nowak kids:

You know it’s not the same without medical leave
In this world, it’s

As I celebrate my third anniversary at Littler, I’d like to invite you to an FMLA party.

Seriously.

A party where we spend seven hours together over two straight days discussing nothing but the F-M-L-A.

Are you excited yet!?! Let me explain more.

FMLA Master Class

For years, many of you have encouraged me

Matt was a correction officer for the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders, which as an aside, sounds like something straight out of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Before I digress further, Matt served as one of the caretakers for his mom, who suffered from dementia and required daily care. Matt sought FMLA leave,

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