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FMLA

Feel free to make routine shift changes–courts won’t consider that evidence of retaliation

07/03/2012

Generally, employees claiming they suffered retaliation after engaging in protected activity—such as complaining about discrimination or taking protected FMLA leave—must show that the retaliation would have dissuaded a reasonable employee from complaining or taking leave. The hypothetical reasonable employee standard isn’t very specific.

Policy calls for firing after leave is exhausted? Make sure you apply it consistently

06/25/2012
If you automatically discharge everyone who can’t return to work after exhausting all available leave, chances are a court won’t second-guess those terminations.

How to handle partial-day absences under FMLA

06/25/2012

Sometimes, an employee needs just a few hours of FMLA leave to make a doctor’s appointment or to drive a relative to treatment. What if the employee wants to take the whole day off? Does the FMLA re­­quire you to extend the extra time?

Can you explain California’s alphabet soup of paid family leave laws?

06/20/2012
Q. What are the differences between FMLA leave, CFRA leave and PFL?

Be wary of hitting employee with sudden criticism after FMLA request

06/14/2012
Here’s something to watch out for when approving a supervisor’s recommendation to discipline or discharge an employee. If the employee has re­­quested FMLA leave and was previously performing well, be suspicious of claims that she’s now performing poorly.

Don’t count FMLA against attendance record

06/11/2012
Employers that count FMLA-covered absences against employees are interfering with their FMLA rights. Before you make a final termination decision based on poor attendance, make absolutely sure that you have excluded all possible FMLA leave.

It’s your call: Intermittent FMLA leave following birth is up to the employer

06/08/2012

Some new parents don’t want to come back to work full time after giving birth. They may prefer a part-time schedule, using intermittent FMLA leave. But you don’t have to allow intermittent leave following birth unless the infant suffers from a serious health condition.

Unmarried parents: Can they take FMLA together?

06/05/2012
Q. Two of our employees live together but are not married. They want to take FMLA leave at the same time after their child is born. Since they work in the same section, doing similar work, this would be a big problem. If they were married, we could make them share the 12 weeks. Can we force them to do the same even if they aren’t married?

Think employee is committing leave fraud? Feel free to discipline–and document why

06/04/2012
If you suspect an employee is abusing your generous sick and disability leave benefits, consider cracking down on fraud. As long as you can document that you made a good-faith decision to punish leave abuse, a court won’t second-guess your actions.

Intermittent FMLA leave is a pain, but don’t deny it for that reason

06/04/2012

Approving, certifying and tracking intermittent FMLA leave can be a royal pain, especially in industries where attendance is crucial. But employees who are otherwise eligible for intermittent FMLA leave can’t be denied that right simply because it’s inconvenient for employers.