Articles Posted in Family and Medical Leave

An HR guide to the workplace implications of Hurricane Sandy

October 29, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

I’m punching out this post on Sunday night, from my home in Philadelphia, before the brunt of Hurricane Sandy strikes. Like many of you, I’m locked, stocked, and ready to go, hoping that the impact is far less than is forecasted and the recovery is easy.

Inevitably, however, for you good folks — especially if you have closed shop on Monday, employment issues are sure to arise. To help you out with some of them, read on past the jump…

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Fact or Fiction: FMLA covers a tummy-tuck procedure

October 24, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

That’s right folks. It’s time for another edition of “Fact or Fiction” a/k/a “Quick Answers to Quick Questions” a/k/a QATQQ f/k/a “I don’t feel like writing a long blog post.”

An employee is eligible for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act if the employee has “a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the functions of the position of such employee.” An employee has a serious health condition if there is “an illness, injury, impairment or physical or mental condition that involves inpatient care . . . or continuing treatment by a health care provider.”

Treatments for cosmetic procedures are not serious health conditions unless complications develop from the procedure or inpatient hospital care is required. So, an employee who takes leave for a tummy-tuck procedure is not covered under the FMLA.

What happens in Vegas, becomes an FMLA claim

October 23, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Your employee vacations in Las Vegas. She plays the slots, walks the Strip, does some people watching, eats at nice restaurants. And she claims it’s all covered under Family and Medical Leave Act.

And, you know what? She may be right. I’ll tell you why after the jump…

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What one employment-law question would you ask Mitt Romney?

September 25, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

We’re just a few months away from the Presidential election. That means that the debates are right around the corner.

Yesterday, started a week-long series of hypothetical debate question for the 2012 candidates for President and Vice President. Click here to see the softball that I tossed President Obama.

Let’s see if I can raise my game for Mitt Romney:

Is “casual conversation” of a parent’s health enough to trigger FMLA?

September 12, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Last month, in this post, I addressed a recent opinion in which the court held that the words “Emergency Room,” when uttered by an employee to his employer are enough to put the employer on notice — at least initially — that the employee needs leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act to care for a parent with a serious health condition.

In another recent opinion (here), the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals examined inquiry notice under the FMLA to determine whether causal conversation about a loved one’s health — without mentioning the letters FMLA — is enough to alert an employer to the seriousness of a health condition so as to trigger the need for FMLA leave.

The Court held that it did not:

FMLA may require you to adjust employee performance standards

August 24, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

I’m back, jack.

And I have some hella-tough shoes to fill, following Janette Levey Frisch‘s killer two-part guest-blogger series on the interplay between the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. You can find Part One here and Part Two here.

So, we all know by now that if a disabled employee requests that his employer afford him a reasonable accommodation to allow the employee to perform the essential functions of his position, the employer must do so (assuming a reasonable accommodation exists). That’s ADA 101.

GUEST POST: FMLA & ADA: Never the twain shall meet? (Part II)

August 23, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Today, Janette Levey Frisch is back as guest blogger to wrap up her two-part series on the interplay between the between the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act. (You can read Part One here).

Janette is In-House Counsel at Joule, Inc. where she provides comprehensive legal representation and support to a staffing company with five subsidiaries throughout the East Coast. You can connect with Janette on Twitter here and on LinkedIn here.

Click through to read more about how the FMLA and ADA may cross paths in your workplace….

(And if this awesome two-part series inspires you to want to guest blog at The Employer Handbook? Email me.)

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GUEST POST: FMLA & ADA: Never the twain shall meet? (Part I)

August 22, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Today we have a guest blogger at The Employer Handbook. It’s Janette Levey Frisch. Janette is In-House Counsel at Joule, Inc. where she provides comprehensive legal representation and support to a staffing company with five subsidiaries throughout the East Coast. You can connect with Janette on Twitter here and on LinkedIn here.

Part one of Janette’s post on the interplay between the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act, an HR-compliance must-read, follows after the jump…

(Want to guest blog at The Employer Handbook? Email me.)

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Horseshoes, hand grenades and….FMLA eligibility?

August 16, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

And here I thought close only counted in the first two…

Who knew that close enough is good enough under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) when meeting the 1,250-hour eligibility requirement? Apparently, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in this recent decision. I’ll break it down and provide some related FMLA best practices after the jump…

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Can the words “Emergency Room” trigger an FMLA request?

August 6, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

As you know from this post, an employee who wants leave from work under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), does not need to use the word, “FMLA.” Instead, the employee need only provide enough information for the employer to understand that the employee needs FMLA leave.

So what about the words, “Emergency Room”? That is, if an employee calls her supervisor and says:

“I am currently in the emergency room. My mother has been brought into the hospital via ambulance, and I am unable to work today.”

Can that trigger an FMLA request? Find out after the jump…

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