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FMLA

Supreme Court outlook: Key employment issues at stake

09/01/2001
Look for the U.S. Supreme Court to tackle several important business issues this fall, including what constitutes a disability and when a claim is officially filed. The court will open its …

Get Certification Before Granting FMLA Leave

09/01/2001

Q. An employee told her supervisor that she needed surgery. We approved time off under the FMLA with the understanding that she would provide certification after the leave began. We later discovered that this “necessary” procedure was liposuction. Can we revoke approval of medical leave under FMLA and convert sick hours used to vacation hours instead? Can we fire her based on inappropriate use of the FMLA? —T.S., Florida

Poorly drafted policies grant unintended rights

08/01/2001
Dr. Tina Thomas, an optometrist with Pearle Vision Inc., requested maternity leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). After all, a summary of employee benefits said “all employees with …

Worker who can’t perform her job isn’t entitled to intermittent leave

08/01/2001
While Minnie Hatchett was on a business trip, a hotel skylight crashed down on her head. As a result of her injuries, she could perform routine work, such as answering phones …

Supreme Court to tackle cases on FMLA notice, ADA ‘direct threat’

08/01/2001
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider two more controversial HR issues in its term which begins in October 2001. FMLA: The court will hear a challenge to …

Try to offer same job to returning worker, not just same title, salary

07/01/2001
Linda Cooper operated a locomotive, but when her personal problems pushed her into depression, she was forced to take a series of leaves of absences. Eventually, Cooper’s doctor cleared her …

Supreme Court lets stand ruling that limits employee’s FMLA rights

07/01/2001
The U.S. Supreme Court has let stand a lower-court ruling that minimizes the impact when an employer fails to notify a worker promptly that he is ineligible for time off under …

Playing doctor: What’s a ‘serious’ condition under FMLA?

07/01/2001
Since 1993, employees have been able to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for their own “serious health condition” or to tend to a child, spouse or …

Newborn’s Medical Problems May Warrant Shorter Hours

07/01/2001

Q. A long-standing employee recently took leave under the FMLA to give birth, but her twins have many medical complications. She exhausted her eligibility under our disability carrier and isn’t eligible for long-term disability because she’s not disabled. We want her back, but she can’t commit to even 20 hours a week. What are our obligations under the FMLA, and would this individual be entitled to unemployment compensation if we terminate her? —G.B., New York

State may trump your CBA on family leave.

05/01/2001
Under Oscar Mayer’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA), paid sick leave doesn’t start until at least the fourth day of absence. But Wisconsin’s labor department says that under the state’s family leave …