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Your FMLA obligation ends with forms and notice

03/12/2009

Employers have to let their employees know about the FMLA so they can take advantage of the leave guaranteed by the law. But if an employee doesn’t take advantage of his FMLA rights, the employer can’t be held liable for not providing leave even if it turns out the employee was eligible.

Place employee on ‘provisional’ FMLA leave while seeking 2nd, 3rd certifications

03/12/2009

Employers don’t have to blindly accept their employees’ medical certifications. The FMLA allows you to get a second opinion about whether an employee’s request qualifies for leave … If the two certifications don’t agree, you can get a third and final certification to break the tie. But what happens during the interim?

How long do we need to hold job for employee out for workers’ comp injury?

03/12/2009

Q. Is an employer required to keep a job open for an employee who is out on an indefinite leave due to a workers’ compensation injury? Does the employee have an automatic right to get put back into the same job he was doing right before he was injured?

PTO, leave sharing give employees flexibility

03/09/2009

Time off is precious to employees, but during tough economic times, some say they’d rather have the money. At MITRE, for example, a third of its 6,000 employees took advantage of an option to cash out up to two weeks of their paid leave last year.

Expectant and new moms get help from co-worker ‘buddies’

03/09/2009

Pregnant employees of Southfield, Mich.-based accounting firm Plante & Moran count on support from co-workers who’ve been there. HR pairs expectant moms with those who’ve recently had babies so they can ask questions and get support. The buddies also help new moms make a successful transition back to work.

You can rely on ‘negative’ FMLA certification

03/09/2009

Sometimes, employees think they’re sick enough to qualify for FMLA leave, but their doctors don’t. Other times, medical staff filling out the medical forms makes mistakes. Either way, if you get a certification or doctor’s note explaining that the employee can work, you are under no obligation to get more information. Instead, you can rely on that “negative” FMLA certification and deny leave.

Worker not returning from FMLA leave? Terminate, but pay benefits for full 12 weeks

03/06/2009

What should you do if you learn that an employee who is out on FMLA leave will not be able to return when her 12 weeks of unpaid leave are up? If you are absolutely sure that she can’t claim she is disabled under the ADA, you can terminate her. But you still must continue providing any benefits she was receiving while on FMLA leave, such as medical premium payments.

Can I ask my employees to use accrued leave to cover time spent on jury duty?

03/06/2009

Q. An employee just asked for a week off to attend jury duty. Do I have to grant the request for leave? If I do, can I require the employee to use accrued vacation time during the jury duty leave?

Who is a ‘key employee’ under the FMLA?

03/03/2009

Q. The Department of Labor’s form for the Employer’s Response to Employee Request for Family or Medical Leave (WH-381) inquires whether the worker is a “key employee.” How should I mark those boxes? I consider most of our workers to be key employees, and I do not want to offend anyone by suggesting that they are not.

Forget FMLA absences when rating employee attendance

02/24/2009

Employers aren’t allowed to count absences covered by the FMLA when they discipline employees. That’s why it’s important to segregate any such absences from performance reviews and any discussions about attendance.