Articles Posted in Family and Medical Leave

Fact or Fiction: If you don’t say “FMLA”, you can’t take FMLA leave?

January 23, 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”. So, let’s get right to today’s question:

That Eddie Employee is a gamer.

While filling up at the Gas-N-Gulp on his way to work, out of nowhere, a punk teen whacked Eddie across the face with a skateboard. Youch! Jaw broken, Eddie got back into his car, drove to work, and somehow managed to stumble into HR. Spitting out blood and teeth, Eddie asked Agatha Administrator for a week off from work to go to the hospital to have surgery to fix his ugly mug and recuperate. However, as Eddie slurred and lisped out his request, he never specifically mentioned the letters “F-M-L-A”.

Oh, baby? An employee’s pre-eligibility FMLA request is protected

January 17, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Back in 2005, a Pennsylvania federal court recognized in this opinion that an employee’s FMLA rights become sacrosanct upon requesting FMLA — even if the employee is not yet FMLA-eligible — provided that the employee has satisfied all FMLA service requirements when the FMLA begins. Where would this most likely arise? Why with pregnancy, of course. Something like:

Female employee starts work;

A few months later, she gets pregnant and requests FMLA to commence upon childbirth; and

She gets fired before giving birth.

Hey, those sound like the facts of Pereda v. Brookdale Senior Living Communities, Inc., a case decided in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals last week. More on this case, together with a big helping of FMLA tips for employers, after the jump…

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Your favorite “The Employer Handbook” posts from 2011

December 30, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

As the year draws to a close, let’s take a look back at the most popular posts at The Employer Handbook in 2011, based on number of hits:

5. Social media and the workplace. School teacher Natalie Munroe made several appearances on the blog this year. Remember her? She was the blogging school teacher who wrote that her students were “utterly loathsome in all imaginable ways.” Although, Ms. Munroe eventually returned to work, her experience is a sound reminder to always think twice before hitting “send.” You can read the fifth-most-popular post, “Yes, you CAN discipline employees who abuse social media” here.

4. I’m a poet and I don’t even know it. I’m not sure what inspired the fourth-most-popular post. It must have been a slow news day. How else do I come up with the idea to Haiku — verbing a noun, sorry — about recent employment-law decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court?

One blueprint for requiring employees to arbitrate FMLA claims

December 20, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

A NJ court recently held that a business can force an employee to arbitrate FMLA claims — even if the arbitration agreement that the employee signs does not contain a specific FMLA waiver.

How does this all work?

Well, according to the NJ Superior Court in Flores-Galan v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., N.A., “an agreement to arbitrate statutory anti-discrimination claims must be specific enough to put the employee on notice of the claims encompassed.” However, “an arbitration clause need not specify every conceivable statute that it covers.”

Employees who share porn and take FMLA lose retaliation claims

December 6, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

So, yeah, in cased you missed it, yesterday, was part one of a gripping two-part series about how employees who share XXX at work tend to get the short-end of the litigation stick should they later decide to sue their employers.

Today, we conclude this series — thankfully — with a look at a hospice nurse who felt it appropriate to share cell phone shots of her boyfriend’s wee-wee with some of her patients. She then takes FMLA leave and, yeah, you can see where this is headed (after the jump…)

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What if you forget to tell an employee about FMLA leave?

November 10, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

If you have 50 or more employees, you must abide by the Family and Medical Leave Act. The FMLA affords up to 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period, among other things, to care for a parent with a serious health condition. But let’s say that you have dropped the ball and failed to provide your employees with:

information or notice explaining the provisions of the FMLA,

information regarding how to file complaints for violations of the FMLA, and

FMLA information in “any written guidance to employees concerning employee benefits or leave rights, such as in an employee handbook.”

Let’s even assume that one of your employees takes leave that would otherwise qualify under the FMLA, but you fail to tell that employee that the FMLA covers the leave.

Have you interfered with your employee’s FMLA rights? I’ll spin some Alice in Chains and drop the 411 after the jump…

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An honest belief is all it takes to fire a suspected FMLA abuser

October 20, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

The Family and Medical Leave Act affords eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period because of a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform his/her job.

Let’s say that you have an employee who requests FMLA for a medical procedure that will keep him laid up for a while. But, you’re suspicious. So, you hire a PI to follow the employee and record his every movement. You view the videotape and see that the employee is walking, driving, and even shopping. What the hell?!? Naturally, you think the employee is scamming the company so you fire him.

Legal? Or FMLA interference? Find out after the jump…

Employer Alert: FMLA for domestic violence victims

October 17, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Last week, Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) reintroduced the Domestic Violence Leave Act, which expands paid leave options for victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking. Details on the pending legislation and what it would mean for employers if it passes after the jump…

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Doggone-it. Must employers give leave to employees with hurt pets?

October 13, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Thumbnail image for sleepingdog.jpeg Worst. Pun. Ever.

In some states, employees who become victims of domestic violence, or whose family members are victims of domestic violence, are entitled to take a short unpaid leave from work. In one state, companies need to be aware of possible legislation that would require them to afford time off to employees whose pets are victims of violence or threats of violence.

Find out which state — you have a 1 in 50 chance — after the jump…

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Say what?!? Not returning employee calls may be FMLA retaliation

September 27, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

An eligible employee may take up to 12 workweeks of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act in a 12-month period. If an employee exhausts all of her FMLA leave and fails to return to work after the 12 weeks are up, can’t the company simply fire the employee? Well, it may not be that easy, as you’ll find out after the jump…

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