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FMLA

Employee returning from FMLA? Alter pay only in rare situations

07/01/2005
When employees return from FMLA leave, they’re entitled to their same or equivalent position, pay and working conditions. If you try to place someone in a lower paying or lower-prestige job, …

Check state law before firing victim of a stalker

07/01/2005

Q. One of our female employees says her ex-boyfriend is stalking her. She hasn’t been able to get a restraining order against him. We’re worried that he may show up and do her or other workers harm. Can we fire or suspend her? —B.L., Florida

Cut costs by challenging requests for intermittent FMLA leave

06/01/2005

Employees are becoming well versed in the FMLA game, and you’re paying the price.
Proof: Unscheduled intermittent FMLA leave now accounts for a sizable portion of all FMLA leave, says …

Collect proof of FMLA medical leave the right way

06/01/2005

If you think employees are fudging their FMLA medical leave, how often can you request medical certification? The U.S. Labor Department recently gave employers added latitude to dig into suspicious FMLA claims …

‘Reasonable’ Maternity Leave Doesn’t Matter Under FMLA

05/01/2005

Q. Is there a law or reasonable standard regarding how many weeks maternity leave should be? And should we make that a written policy in our employee handbook? Even with FMLA, to which our employees are entitled, we thought maternity leave was either six or eight weeks, depending on type of delivery. —J.F., Pennsylvania

Make sure the employee is qualified before approving an FMLA request

04/01/2005
Take extra time to review an employee’s eligibility and certification for FMLA leave at the time of the request, not later.
As a new court ruling shows, employers who approve …

Asking for test results is OK in cases of business necessity

04/01/2005
When an employee encounters a medical problem, don’t fear asking for more details or requiring medical tests, as long as you can prove that your requests are focused on whether the …

Continuing insurance isn’t required by workers’ comp

04/01/2005

Q. We have several employees out on workers’ comp claims. Our policy is to pay for the employee but not dependents. How can we terminate the group insurance for employees who are out on workers’ comp for more than three months? —M.O., Washington

Don’t automatically fire after FMLA, STD leave expire

04/01/2005

Q. Our policy is to 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, at the end of 12 weeks, when FMLA leave is exhausted? And, if so, do we end short-term disability payments, since the employee has been terminated? —E.A., Georgia

Employees can’t cry ‘retaliation’ if they’re not eligible for leave

04/01/2005
Issue: Employees can sue for FMLA retaliation only if they’ve put in the minimum hours to become eligible for FMLA leave.
Benefit: Less risk of first-year employees winning FMLA-retaliation suits. …