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FMLA

New FMLA military leave: Who can take it?

04/17/2008
Q. Does the new FMLA law for injured soldiers also apply to service members who were injured during past wars? And does the person have to be 100% disabled for their family members to be eligible for leave? — C.T., Missouri …

Watch what you say during termination deliberation

04/10/2008
Words are easy to misconstrue. Depending on who’s listening, the same sentence could mean at least two different things. This is one of the things that keeps lawyers employed. It’s also the reason it’s crucial to prepare accurate notes about any meeting in which managers are discussing whether to terminate …

Is there such a thing as intermittent childbirth leave?

04/10/2008
 Q. We have a question regarding FMLA leave following the birth of a child. One of our employees is pregnant. She has recently immigrated to the United States. She has informed us that she expects to take eight weeks of FMLA leave immediately after the child is born. Then after a few months, she would like to return to her home country to visit with family for a month. In other words, she wants to split up FMLA leave into an eight-week period and a four-week period. Can FMLA leave for a new child be split up in this fashion? …

Consistently applied blanket-Leave limits don’t violate FMLA

04/09/2008
If you’re having absenteeism problems, consider instituting a policy that says an employee who exceeds an absence threshold will be automatically terminated—regardless of the reason. Such a policy can cover absences relating to personal or vacation leave, time off covered by workers’ comp and even FMLA leave …

Spa manager’s personal style rubbed staff the wrong way

04/09/2008
Lisa Cristia worked as a massage therapist and later as a department manager for Red Door Spa in Chicago. She was fired for breaching the company’s rules of conduct, including using her position as a manager to coerce and harass employees. Cristia sued, alleging disability discrimination …

Labor Department publishes proposed new FMLA regulations

04/01/2008
On Feb. 11, 2008, the U.S. Labor Department published proposed regulations interpreting the FMLA of 1993. The department also published new draft forms for use in processing FMLA leave requests. Interested parties have until April 11, 2008, to submit comments on the proposed regulations …

Changes coming to the FMLA—For better and for worse

04/01/2008
After remaining untouched for its first 15 years, the FMLA has received a makeover in the past couple of months—first by Congress, and then by regulators at the U.S. Labor Department. Here are the highlights …

Firing shortly after follow-up FMLA care may be retaliation

04/01/2008
As more time passes after an employee takes FMLA leave, courts grow less and less likely to link an adverse employment action to taking leave. That means employees have a harder and harder time proving that being fired, for example, was retaliation for exercising their FMLA leave rights. But be careful …

Labor Dept. proposes extensive revisions to FMLA regulations

04/01/2008
The U.S Labor Department has announced proposed revisions to the FMLA regulations.  And the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008 amended the FMLA to provide leave for eligible employees to care for injured service members and to deal with any “qualifying exigency” arising out of the fact that a covered family member is on active duty or has been notified of an impending call to active duty …

Can we ask employee to use paid leave before receiving workers’ comp benefits

04/01/2008
Q. Can an employee who is receiving workers’ compensation wage continuation benefits be required to use sick, vacation and personal leave time to cover days missed due to the work-related injury? …