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FMLA

Calls during FMLA leave lead to emotional-distress lawsuit

12/09/2010
Teach this simple lesson to supervisors who have employees out on FMLA leave: Leave them alone unless there’s a good reason to contact them. Calls and visits can lead to lawsuits claiming emotional distress.

GINA’s effect on wellness programs

12/09/2010
To help you better understand your obligations under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), we’ve assembled these resources:

Must we give FMLA leave for grandchild’s birth?

12/09/2010
Q. One of our employees has a 16-year-old daughter who lives with her and is going to have a baby. The grandmother-to-be wants 12 weeks of FMLA leave to care for the daughter and bond with the grandchild. Is FMLA leave available for her? She says she will be co-parenting the infant. Is she basically in loco parentis to the baby and, therefore, eligible?

Document reason for terminations after FMLA

12/06/2010

Generally, employers don’t need a reason to terminate an at-will employee. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t carefully document how, why and when you made the decision—even if you don’t plan to share the information with the employee. Documentation is especially crucial if you are terminating an employee who is returning from FMLA leave.

Consider chronic conditions when employees request FMLA leave

12/06/2010

When deciding whether a person has a health condition that qualifies for FMLA leave, employers sometimes mistakenly focus only on the provision that defines “serious condition” as one that incapacitates an employee for three calendar days or more. They frequently overlook the part of the FMLA that adds any period of incapacity or treatment due to a chronic, serious health condition.

The HR I.Q. Test: December ’10

12/02/2010
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz …

Can we deduct pay from an exempt worker who takes FMLA leave? If so, how should we calculate it?

12/01/2010
Q. An exempt employee recently requested intermittent leave under the FMLA … FMLA leave at our company is unpaid. Can we deduct from the employee’s salary for absences of less than a day and still classify her as exempt? If so, how do we calculate how much FMLA time the employee is using?

Do you work for a state agency? Know FMLA’s limitations on leave for self-care

11/30/2010
Because of a bedrock Constitutional principle, a court has ruled that the FMLA does not cover state government employees who want to take time off due to their own illness. Based on this decision, state employees can only use FMLA leave to care for others.

How should we handle a termination when both the FMLA and short-term disability are in play?

11/24/2010
Q. We run FMLA and short-term disability (STD) concurrently. FMLA is for 12 weeks of job-protected leave. STD is for 26 weeks, with proper medical documentation. At what point can we terminate an employee?

Can a small employer deny leave to an employee whose spouse is seriously ill?

11/24/2010
Q. One of our full-time employees took time off when her husband had a heart attack. We’re a small company with 30 employees. Management was very upset and wouldn’t let her take any paid time off and wouldn’t guarantee her position. She had accumulated several weeks of paid leave. Is it legal to keep her from taking paid time off to care for her husband?