Articles Posted in Family and Medical Leave

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Folks, you are in for a treat today.

Today we have a guest blogger at The Employer Handbook. It’s Janette Levey Frisch. Janette is In-House Counsel at Joule, Inc. where she provides comprehensive legal representation and support to a staffing company with five subsidiaries throughout the East Coast. You can connect with Janette on Twitter here and on LinkedIn here.

And if you want to read a great piece about the interplay between the Family and Medical Leave Act and the New Jersey Family Leave Act, then hit the jump…

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The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) affords eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of leave during any 12-month period for, among other things, a serious health condition that renders the employee unable to work. A company that fires an employee in the middle of approved FMLA leave has engaged in what the law deems “FMLA interference.”

However, there are some ways around the FMLA-interference claim. If the employer can show that it would have fired the same employee had the employee never taken leave, then the employer has a viable defense. Similarly, if the evidence shows that the employer did not prejudice the employee when it fired him, then the employee cannot prevail on his FMLA-interference claim.

Let that sink in for a second. Employer fires employee and employee suffers no prejudice?!? I’ll explain after the jump…

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In most states, absent a contract of employment, an employee is considered at-will (i.e., he or she can be fired for any reason or no reason at all). Many employers reinforce — in very prominent locations in employee handbooks — that their employees are at-will.

What happens, however, when an employer later promises an employee that she can take 12 months of leave and then return to her job?

Can the employer later renege and rely upon the at-will employment doctrine as a basis not to reinstate? Or is the employer SOL? Find out, after the jump…

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The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a federal law, entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take up to twelve workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for:

  • the birth of a child and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth;
  • the placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care and to care for the newly placed child within one year of placement;
  • to care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition; and
  • a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job.

Last week, House Bill No. 1713, otherwise known as the Pennsylvania Family and Medical Leave Act, was introduced and referred to the House Committee on Labor and Industry.

How might this bill impact Pennsylvania’s already FMLA-qualifying employers? Find out after jump.

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Can a company create and enforce a policy that requires employees on paid sick leave to remain close to their homes, unless they obtain the company’s permission?

Would that policy infringe on an employee’s FMLA rights?

Good questions.

The answers are after the jump.

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Rep. Carolyn Maloney [D-NY14] recently introduced H.R. 1440: Family and Medical Leave Enhancement Act of 2011 (FMLEA) in the House of Representatives.

What is this new bill? And what will it mean for new employers if it passes? (Hint: It may have something to do with the picture on the left)

All the details, after the jump.

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ivy.jpg“The Employer Handbook rules, dad!”

Last month, my wife gave birth to a beautiful little girl, Ivy Lynn Meyer. So it only seems fitting that a post should follow involving the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Imagine having an employee who needs time off for surgery. She completes the requisite paperwork and is approved for FMLA leave. During her FMLA leave, the employee’s supervisor contacts her weekly to inquire when she will be returning to work.

How many of you think this may be a problem if the supervisor making the call doesn’t know what she is doing? Me too. I’ll show you why after the jump.

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According to FMLASource, employee requests for Family and Medical Leave Act leave rose over 10% in 2010. The top reasons for FMLA absences:

1. personal illness/injury,

    2. caring for a child, and
    3. caring for an elderly relative

With a rise in claims coupled with recent amendments to the FMLA, now is a good time to make sure that your business has a strong, written FMLA policy and is otherwise prepared to address employee requests for FMLA leave in 2011.

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My blog designers told me that if I want to build SEO — that’s Search Engine Optimization to you rookies — I’d better write about employment law issues affecting Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware (duh!) and “optimize” my blog post titles with the keywords near the front.

Learn more about which employees are covered after the jump.
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