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269 Matching News Items
1.
In a PWFA World, Can an Employer Safely Request FMLA Medical Certification for an Absence Due to Pregnancy?
FMLA Insights
May 15, 2024
FMLA Insights
May 15, 2024
"In its final rules implementing the PWFA, the EEOC went to unusual lengths to rein in an employer's ability to obtain medical documentation when an employee requests a pregnancy accommodation.... FMLA medical certification would be an acceptable tool to use first if an employee limited by pregnancy is seeking leave from work, or if leave is the only option available.... But what's the employer's response if the employee fails to return the FMLA certification?"
2.
What Leave Benefits Are Employers Offering in 2024?
FMLA Insights
Jan. 30, 2024
FMLA Insights
Jan. 30, 2024
"Mental health tops pregnancy, illness or injury, and caregiver leave as the most-commonly requested need for leave.... Parental leave is yesterday's news; others take it up a notch with NICU leave ... [P]aid bereavement leave and meaningful additional time off work to deal with the loss of a family member or close friend has picked up a tremendous amount of momentum in the past five years. ... [L]eave to bond with our furry friends has increasingly made its way onto the paid leave benefits charts, ... In 2022, theSkimm ... unveiled ... a free excel spreadsheet that allows the public to search and compare these leave benefits across industries"
3.
When an Employee Fails to Return FMLA Medical Certification, Can an Employer Lawfully Terminate the Employee?
FMLA Insights
Oct. 20, 2023
FMLA Insights
Oct. 20, 2023
"If your goal is to exhaust an employee's FMLA allotment rather than issue discipline or terminate employment, then offering plenty of grace time is your game. When the employee provides certification -- whenever that is -- you simply designate all the absences as FMLA leave. The biggest issue you face is the employee who doesn't want FMLA leave to apply to his absence, so he simply refuses to provide certification, knowing that you won't discipline or terminate him for his failure to do so.... [Y]ou are not required to obtain medical certification to support the need for leave. You simply need sufficient facts to establish that the employee's leave is protected by FMLA."
4.
When You Send Your Employees to Work Abroad, Do They Lose the Right to Take FMLA Leave?
FMLA Insights
Sept. 20, 2023
FMLA Insights
Sept. 20, 2023
"[As] long as the employee still remains employed within the United States, the employee has the right to take FMLA leave to travel abroad and care for a family member (child, spouse, parent).... A plain reading of the regulation ... tells us that an employee loses FMLA protection when they are employed 'outside' the United States.... But what about the employee who is assigned to work abroad on a short-term basis and reports at all times back to the United States?"
5.
DOL Opinion Letter Sheds Light on Calculating FMLA Leave During a Holiday Week
FMLA Insights
June 2, 2023
FMLA Insights
June 2, 2023
"In a highly technical opinion letter ... the [DOL] clarified how to calculate FMLA leave usage when an employee takes intermittent leave during a holiday week.... [It is] critical to understand that the term 'workweek,' as defined under the FMLA, is the employee's normal schedule (hours/days per week) prior to the start of FMLA leave. "
6.
DOL Publishes a New (Eggplant-Colored) FMLA Poster
FMLA Insights
May 10, 2023
FMLA Insights
May 10, 2023
"[T]he September 2013 and April 2016 poster editions are still effective to use, but now we add this latest purple shade to the mix. The new version clarifies just as much as the others did back in 2013 and 2016."
7.
Is an Employer Required to Provide FMLA Leave Indefinitely to an Employee Who Cannot Work Overtime?
FMLA Insights
Mar. 8, 2023
FMLA Insights
Mar. 8, 2023
"Can an employee use a 'NO OVERTIME' doctor's note to take FMLA leave whenever he's assigned overtime? Or can we rely on the ADA, which tells us that we do not need to dispatch an essential function of the job? According to a [recent DOL opinion letter], the employee's 'no overtime' diagnosis is FMLA-protected, and the employee with a chronic serious health condition can use FMLA leave to reduce work hours indefinitely."
8.
Happy 30th Birthday, FMLA! Where Do We Go from Here?
FMLA Insights
Feb. 6, 2023
FMLA Insights
Feb. 6, 2023
"We need to do more to protect employers' interests, but the employer community also must take a big step forward, read the tea leaves, and once and for all, ensure some level of paid leave for their employees so that their workers can take care of themselves and their families. It's good for the people they employ, and it's good for business. Conversely, employees must understand their role in safeguarding the FMLA by using time away from work with integrity and only for the reasons intended under federal law."
9.
May an Employer Legally Deny a Bonus to an Employee Who Has Taken FMLA Leave?
FMLA Insights
Dec. 29, 2022
FMLA Insights
Dec. 29, 2022
"Under trusty Section 215 of the FMLA regulations, an employer can disqualify an employee from a bonus based on achievement of a specified goal, such as hours worked or perfect attendance, even where the employee has not met the goal due to FMLA leave."
10.
DOL Provides Guidance on FMLA Leave for Mental Health Conditions
McAfee & Taft
Oct. 25, 2022
McAfee & Taft
Oct. 25, 2022
"Earlier this year, the [WHD] published ... Fact Sheet #280, that specifically offers an explanation of the circumstances when an eligible employee may utilize leave under the FMLA in connection with a mental health issue. At the same time, the WHD released new FAQs that are meant to guide employers through a variety of situations where FMLA leave may be appropriately taken. Neither the guidance nor the FAQs create any new regulations or requirements for employers, but are simply meant to give employers greater insight into when job-protected leave must be provided to an employee caring for his or her own mental health condition, or that of a close family member."
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