Family and Medical Leave

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…

413,000 reasons for HR to avoid inconsistent employee discipline

August 3, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Inconsistent discipline is bad. But, when an employee’s request for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act precedes the inconsistent discipline by only 48 hours, damn, that’s not just a lawsuit, that’s jury-verdict material.

The details on this bloodbath and a few lessons for my employer-readers after the jump…

HR Manager emails bolster employee’s ADEA and FMLA claims

July 30, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Documentation is good; smoking-gun emails from the HR Manager not so much.

After the jump, I’ve got a few doozies which now have a financial institution going to trial on a former employee’s age-discrimination and Family and Medical Leave Act claims.

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To minimize FMLA lawsuits, hire slow and fire fast (before the FMLA request)

July 18, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

In the world of Human Resources, “hire slow, fire fast” generally holds true to avoid just about any lawsuit.

Unfortunately, for one NJ employer, it didn’t get the memo. And now it finds itself having to defend against FMLA interference and retaliation claims at trial.

What did this employer do wrong and how can you avoid making the same mistake? Find out after the jump…

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HR 101: Don’t suggest “No More Hysterectomies” to a woman on FMLA

July 10, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

In my years of practicing employment law, I’ve drafted several employee handbooks and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) policies for employers. The policies I draft are thorough. But just the other week, it occurred to me that I should probably add some language to the effect that supervisors should refrain from recommending the book No More Hysterectomies to any female employee who requests FMLA leave, especially to have a hysterectomy.

That recommendation would be stupider than stupid stupid. And, wouldn’t you know it, a company in Ohio appears to have managed to screw that up.

I couldn’t make this stuff up if I wanted to. Well, except for the part about the policy revision. That’s pure BS. But the screw-up is not. Details after the jump…

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U.S. Department of Labor has a new FMLA guide and webinar

July 9, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Late last year, the US Department of Labor issued this fact sheet, which provides general information concerning the Family and Medical Leave Act’s (FMLA) prohibition of retaliating against an individual for exercising his or her rights or participating in matters protected under the FMLA.

Last month, the DOL followed up with the “Family and Medical Leave Act Employee Guide,” a copy of which you can download here. A related webinar, which the DOL held on June 27, includes a list of frequently asked questions. You can view it here.

Although geared towards employees, these are both nonetheless good reads for HR professionals looking to hone their FMLA chops.

Your state’s family-leave benefits probably suck!

June 15, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

That according to a a new survey from The National Partnership for Women & Families.

The survey compared how state-based rights and protections compare to the 12 weeks of leave for new and expecting parents provided by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the protections provided by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), and the right to express breast milk at work provided to some nursing mothers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The report card covers all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia. No state earned an A. Only 1/3 scored a C- or higher, while more than 1/3 flat-out failed. The highest grades went to California and Connecticut, each earning an A-. Locally, New Jersey ranked near the top with a B+, while Pennsylvania scraped by with a D.

4 pending bills that could change the NJ employment landscape

June 13, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

One of my favorite reads on NJ employment law is Ogletree Deakins’s New Jersey eAuthority. The June 2012 issue highlights several pieces of legislation now pending in NJ of which employers should take note. I’ve summarized four of them after the jump…

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