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Articles Posted in Family and Medical Leave

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Court slices FMLA retaliation claim of employee caught golfing while on leave

By Shane Smith, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link An employee with severe shoulder pain sought and received from his employer leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The employer notified the employee that the leave was limited to up to four medical appointments per year and for monthly flare-ups lasting…

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Five wage and hour goodies for your business. Trust me. This won’t be weird at all.

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay You know that dream? The one where the U.S. Department of Labor shows up on a Sunday to conduct a surprise wage-and-hour audit of your workplace, all the company payroll records have gone missing, and you’re in your underwear. No? Oh, me neither. But, just…

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Get your damn story straight if you’re going to fire someone who just returned from medical leave.

Image by DigitalShards from Pixabay I’ve talked a fair amount recently about retaliation claims (here and here), mostly focusing on timing as the possible link between a protected activity (such as a complaint of discrimination) and an adverse employment action (like a firing). The plaintiffs in those cases were unsuccessful…

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Vacation Thread: It’s the FMLA PowerPoint that will have your HR-compliance feet doing a happy dance

By Ivan Curra, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link (Not pictured: Eric Meyer; probably off grabbing a Dole Whip (adult version) and a turkey leg). Folks, the blog posts may not be as fast and furious (i.e., daily) as usual this week. That’s because, yes, I am vacationing with the family in…

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Vacation Thread: It’s another FMLA warning about your dookie ‘no-fault’ attendance policy

By Ivan Curra, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link (Not pictured: Eric Meyer; probably off grabbing a Dole Whip (adult version) and a turkey leg). Folks, the blog posts may not be as fast and furious (i.e., daily) as usual this week. That’s because, yes, I am vacationing with the family in…

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FMLA forms may be changing soon. What will they say? How will HR cope? #breathe

Paperbaghead [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsCalm down, bruh. That bag is for breathing; not hiding from your employees. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor hooked us up with some guidance on whether an employee may take leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act to discuss a child’s…

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DOL: An employee may take FMLA leave to discuss a child’s special education needs at school.

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor issued this opinion letter in which the DOL concluded that the FMLA covers a parent’s attendance at his/her child’s individualized education program (IEP) at school. Ultimately, this amounts to caring for a family member with a serious health…

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Here’s a sneak preview of the outtakes from my ADA/FMLA MEGA session at SHRM19 in Las Vegas

Image Credit: PhotoFunia.com (http://photofunia.com/results/5d0b63b54686797e398b4569) FOMO or Fear of Missing Out. According to Google, FOMO is “anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on a social media website.” What I’m about to show you are the slides that were not good…

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You can’t fire an employee while on FMLA leave. Except when you can.

Image Credit: Pixabay.com Yesterday, I was reading this case about a woman who was fired while taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. She later sued, claiming FMLA interference; i.e., that her employer had denied her FMLA benefits to which she was otherwise entitled. An employee fired while…

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You just approved FMLA leave for an ineligible employee. What now?

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/illustrations/oops-reminder-post-note-sticker-1432954/) You just approved leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act for your employee so that she can attend to her sick mother who is in the emergency room at the hospital. You used the Notice of Eligibility and Rights & Responsibilities — good for you…