As employers have noodled on the new federal emergency paid sick leave (EPSL) and paid FMLA leave (FMLA+) law, you’ve done a double-and triple-take on the notice and documentation requirements under this new law. In short, they can be confusing. As a result, plenty of clients have asked me to break down this process just
Here are Ten Problems with Your FMLA Policy and Suggestions on How You Fix Them
Jingle Bells is now a faint memory. Three weeks into 2020, we’ve made and already broken our New Year’s resolutions.
Is it a new decade, or is it not?
Who knows and who cares, right?
Whether or not you’ve broken that New Year’s resolution, the turn of the calendar is the perfect opportunity to update
Note to Employers: Stop Designating Lengthy Approval Dates on Your FMLA Designation Forms
I spend a decent part of my day reviewing FMLA forms, certification and correspondence. Exhilarating, for sure.
When it comes to FMLA notices, do you care hear about one of my big pet peeves? [You: Not really interested, Jeff, but we have the feeling you’re going to tell us anyway.]
It’s an issue that
This One’s a Whopper! Court Puts Kibosh on Burger King Franchisee That Required Two Calls to Request FMLA Leave
Remember when I told you a few months ago that employers can and should consider requiring that employees make two calls to request FMLA leave? For instance, you might require one call to the supervisor to report the absence, and a second call to Human Resources (or your third party administrator) to request FMLA
FMLA FAQ: If an Employee Racks Up Both FMLA and Unexcused Absences, Can He Be Terminated?
Here’s a puzzle for you. How would you handle it?
Mary Beth is a nurse for a local hospital and has been diagnosed with cancer and asthma. Over the course of about one year:
1. She is certified for FMLA leave for her cancer and asthma;
2. She incurs a total of 13 intermittent absences
When You Don’t Train Your Managers on the FMLA, You’re Begging for This Kind of Smackdown
When a manager learns that one of his employees is in the hospital for several days, that’s almost always enough information for the employer to have an inkling that the employee may need FMLA leave.
But one employer didn’t think so. And the penalty for its mistake was costly. Let me explain.
The Facts
Grace
Poorly Implemented FMLA Policies and Procedures are Killing Employers. Don’t Be That Employer.
Poorly implemented FMLA policies and procedures are in the spotlight this week. And just a few vague words and a slip up are costing two employers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Their mistakes, however, are golden lessons for the rest of us.
Confusion Over How Much Maternity Leave is Provided
In Sad Employer Story No.
There’s No Crying at Work! But if an Employee Does Cry, Is That Sufficient Notice of the Need for FMLA Leave?
Reports of my capture by a Sri Lankan sloth bear in the dry forests of Sri Lanka are greatly exaggerated.
I am alive and well.
Sorry for the long delay since my last post. You see, spring is my busy season — when I am not practicing law, I spend seemingly every waking minute coaching
When Employers Don’t Recognize an Employee’s Notice of the Need for FMLA Leave, They Pay the Price
As employers, we face a sobering reality: at every turn, the FMLA sets us up to fail.
Whether it’s deciphering medical certification, assessing fitness for duty upon return to work, or dealing with the always frustrating intermittent leave, the FMLA is full of booby traps ready to nail us the instant we slip up.
Chief
Does an FMLA Leave Request Double as a Request for a Reasonable Accommodation? Should Employers Care?
There is a hot debate brewing over the tantalizing question, “Does a request for FMLA leave also constitute a request for a reasonable accommodation under the ADA?” The worlds of FMLA and ADA clash!
Surely, this question ranks up there with life’s unanswered questions. You know, questions like: When does it stop being partly cloudy