Q: An employee on FMLA leave has simply not returned her medical certification. What next? A: If an employee does not return the required medical certification within 15 calendar days, you can decline to extend FMLA...more
Q: My employees simply won’t get their FMLA certification in. What can I do? A: The general rule is that an employee applying for Family and Medical Leave must provide the requested medical certification within 15 calendar...more
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) recently issued a new Certification of Health Care Provider form that employers may use for medical certification when an employee requests leave under the...more
David C. Henderson, a partner in Nutter's Labor, Employment and Benefits practice group, authored an article in Westlaw Journal Employment's "Expert Analysis" section entitled, "6 Things Employers Must Know About The Family...more
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) continues to present challenging questions for employers. In this episode, Keith Kopplin and Sarah Platt of our Milwaukee office walk through some of employers’ most frequently asked...more
Employers don’t call the Family and Medical Leave Act the “Friday and Monday Leave Act” for nothing, especially this time of year. The allure of summertime fun in the sun can cause an increase in employee absenteeism,...more
Did that FMLA certification arrive illegible? Is the information provided too vague? Are the responses to the questions internally inconsistent? Do you suspect that it wasn’t filled out by a healthcare provider at all?...more
Block FMLA leave has its own challenges. But intermittent FMLA leave can be downright painful – including the fact that intermittent leave claims are the most common type of lawsuit under the FMLA. When employees need to...more
“What did I do wrong?” and “Am I doing this correctly?” are frequent questions from clients regarding FMLA administration. This is the eleventh in a series highlighting some of the more common mistakes employers can...more
Backs across America must collectively be giving out, as my clients’ questions about medical certification from chiropractors are on the increase. So, I’ll hit this one head on: Is a chiropractor considered a health care...more
Congress adopted the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (“FMLA”) to provide job security for employees who must miss work due to their own serious health condition, the birth of their children, to care for family members...more
Q: Our employee is trying to support his need for FMLA leave with medical certification from an online health care provider. Is this valid under the FMLA? And What if It’s a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor? A:...more
A couple of clients have asked me recently whether a health care provider can use his/her own medical certification form or “doctor’s note” to support the employee’s need for FMLA leave, or can we require the HCP to use the...more
On September 17, 2015, the New Jersey Appellate Division emphasized that an employer has “modest burdens” to not only advise employees of their rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), but also must advise...more
Want a glimpse into a world where an employer fails to maintain a legally compliant leave management process? Let me warn you — what you are about to read is not pretty and not for the faint of heart....more
I received a ton of feedback last week in response to my post about whether an employee can decline FMLA leave even though the absence qualifies under the Act. One question, in particular, was thrown at me repeatedly, and it...more
Have you ever made a rash decision that you wish you could take back the second you made it? ...more
We have become more aggressive on suspected cases of FMLA abuse and, as a result, we have sent a greater number of employees for second and third opinions after they turn in medical certification. Once we have received the...more
Employers often outsource to third party administrators the task of managing their FMLA processes. Under this model, the TPA handles FMLA requests, paperwork and approvals instead of the employer's human resources or...more
Over the past month, as we recognized the 20th Anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act, advocates for employees and employers have been clamoring for changes to the Act. ...more
This scenario is all too familiar for employers: shortly before Christmas, your employee requests vacation leave for Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. Due to seniority or the employee's last minute request for time off, her...more