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The Employer Handbook Blog
Articles Posted in Family and Medical Leave
Rip this FMLA policy out of your employee handbook. And burn it with fire.
Employers that maintain a policy of treating any employee unable to return to work following the expiration of FMLA leave as having voluntarily resigned are begging for trouble.
But don’t just take my word for it. Continue reading
This employer went to the hospital and fired its employee while in psychiatric treatment. Then it defeated his FMLA claim.
So much about what I’m about to tell you is messed up. Continue reading
There’s a right way and a wrong way to investigate FMLA fraud, as one employer found out.
Recently, a federal judge concluded that an employer accused of contacting a healthcare provider to confirm its suspicions that one of its employees had submitted a false medical certification interfered with the employee’s rights under the Family Medical Leave Act. Continue reading
How did this employer terminate an employee while on FMLA without violating the law?
Employers cannot interfere with employee rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act. However, the FMLA doesn’t exonerate employee misconduct, including when an employer discovers it during the leave. Continue reading
DOL to Employers: Using artificial intelligence does not excuse compliance with the FLSA and FMLA
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division published new guidance reminding employers that the use of artificial intelligence and other automated technologies to track work hours, optimize employee performance, and administer leaves of absence does not excuse compliance with the laws that the WHD enforces, namely, the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act. Continue reading
Let’s get back to basics: FMLA notice requirements
Employees who want to take leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act must give at least 30 days advance notice if possible and practical. If 30 days’ notice is not practicable, for example, when the employee does not know when leave will begin, or if circumstances change or there is a medical emergency, the employee must provide notice of the need for leave as soon as possible and practical.
The employer can deny the leave if the employee does not satisfy the FMLA’s notice requirements. Continue reading
“March Madness” is ***checks notes*** not a serious health condition.
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament began yesterday. Last night, I read that the average worker will spend seven hours watching it, with 26 percent of Americans saying they’re prepared to skip work altogether to watch. Cynically, I imagine some of these workers are currently on intermittent FMLA. Continue reading
Employers must adjust employee performance standards to avoid penalizing employees on FMLA leave
Suppose one of your employees, a widget maker, takes leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Continue reading
Let’s revisit how to handle FMLA and FLSA for a snow day office closure.
Back in the day, the mere promise of Cheerios and chocolate milk was all it took to dupe my two oldest kids (then three and five) to shovel the driveway for a few hours. Come to think of it, I preferred the stick to the carrot. So I probably threatened to cancel Nickelodeon and, with that, all vestiges of Yo Gabba Gabba. Either way, the children were too young and naive to ask for minimum wage or form a union. So, they shoveled snow.
Fortunately, the littlest one — salting the walkway out of frame — lacked the manual dexterity to call the NJ Department of Labor on me.
Ah, the good ‘ol days. Continue reading