Fact or Fiction: FMLA covers a tummy-tuck procedure

That’s right folks. It’s time for another edition of “Fact or Fiction” a/k/a “Quick Answers to Quick Questions” a/k/a QATQQ f/k/a “I don’t feel like writing a long blog post.”

An employee is eligible for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act if the employee has “a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the functions of the position of such employee.” An employee has a serious health condition if there is “an illness, injury, impairment or physical or mental condition that involves inpatient care . . . or continuing treatment by a health care provider.”

Treatments for cosmetic procedures are not serious health conditions unless complications develop from the procedure or inpatient hospital care is required. So, an employee who takes leave for a tummy-tuck procedure is not covered under the FMLA.

The answer to today’s question is fiction.

For more on this, check out Dorsey v. Bellanger.