Recently, a federal judge concluded that an employer accused of contacting a healthcare provider to confirm its suspicions that one of its employees had submitted a false medical certification interfered with the employee’s rights under the Family Medical Leave Act. Continue reading
Employers cannot interfere with employee rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act. However, the FMLA doesn’t exonerate employee misconduct, including when an employer discovers it during the leave. Continue reading
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division published new guidance reminding employers that the use of artificial intelligence and other automated technologies to track work hours, optimize employee performance, and administer leaves of absence does not excuse compliance with the laws that the WHD enforces, namely, the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act. Continue reading
Employees who want to take leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act must give at least 30 days advance notice if possible and practical. If 30 days’ notice is not practicable, for example, when the employee does not know when leave will begin, or if circumstances change or there is a medical emergency, the employee must provide notice of the need for leave as soon as possible and practical.
The employer can deny the leave if the employee does not satisfy the FMLA’s notice requirements. Continue reading
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament began yesterday. Last night, I read that the average worker will spend seven hours watching it, with 26 percent of Americans saying they’re prepared to skip work altogether to watch. Cynically, I imagine some of these workers are currently on intermittent FMLA. Continue reading
Suppose one of your employees, a widget maker, takes leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Continue reading
Back in the day, the mere promise of Cheerios and chocolate milk was all it took to dupe my two oldest kids (then three and five) to shovel the driveway for a few hours. Come to think of it, I preferred the stick to the carrot. So I probably threatened to cancel Nickelodeon and, with that, all vestiges of Yo Gabba Gabba. Either way, the children were too young and naive to ask for minimum wage or form a union. So, they shoveled snow.
Fortunately, the littlest one — salting the walkway out of frame — lacked the manual dexterity to call the NJ Department of Labor on me.
Ah, the good ‘ol days. Continue reading
In my day, televisions had antennas, which you had to position just right to watch one of three channels, and I’m turning into my parents.
Let’s talk about Family and Medical Leave Act interference instead. Continue reading
Chances are, if one of your employees complained externally about discrimination, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was all up in your company’s business. Perhaps your business has had the not-so-good fortune of undergoing a Fair Labor Standards Act or Family and Medical Leave Act audit from the U.S. Department of Labor.
Late last week, the two federal watchdogs announced a partnership. Continue reading
At a bench trial in a Virginia federal court in 2021, with only a Family and Medical Leave Act interference at stake, the judge concluded, “[I]t’s obvious that there is definitely liability because there was clearly a violation of the FMLA. I mean, there’s just no question about it.”
But when the plaintiff asked the court to award her front and back pay, it denied her any relief in connection with the defendant’s failure to promote her after returning from medical leave.
Huh?
The Employer Handbook Blog