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The Employer Handbook BlogJoin me on Zoom on October 21 at noon ET as we discuss your employees’ mental health and wellness. It’s FREE!
Oooooh…this one is going to be really good! Continue reading
Articles Posted in Family and Medical Leave
Need a way to neutralize a supervisor’s potentially biased employment decision? I’ll give you two.
I can’t tell you how to get toothpaste back in the tube. However, I can offer two ways to avoid losing a discrimination lawsuit when a biased supervisor recommends terminating a direct report. Continue reading
How did a plaintiff with no lawyer convince a federal appellate court that he had a viable FMLA claim?
The surprise will quickly disappear once I share the facts from this recent Third Circuit decision. Continue reading
Here’s what happens when your managers don’t follow your written call-out policies
Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, an employer can insist that employees comply with the company’s “usual and customary” absentee notice procedures. Often those call-out procedures are part of written leave and attendance policies.
But, as one company found out the hard way, “usual and customary” absentee notice can transcend formal policies and procedures when managers bend the rules.
The plaintiff won her FMLA case. The court awarded her no money. The lawyers, however…
According to this recent Seventh Circuit’s opinion, “when [the plaintiff] returned from medical leave, her employer … did not allow her to return to her previous position as a lead teacher at her school. Instead, it placed her in a backwater position with fewer responsibilities that required her to split her time between different schools. After a bench trial, the district court determined that the defendant had violated the Family and Medical Leave Act.”
But here’s the thing. The court awarded the plaintiff no money.
Zip. Zilch. Nada.
New Jersey poster lamination companies are now cursing under their breath
New Jersey made it easier for employers to comply with displaying official posters from the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR). Continue reading
I’ve got free educational resources for new mothers in the workplace (and their employers)
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a series of August events highlighting the importance of maternal health and workplace protections for expectant and new mothers to mark National Breastfeeding Month. Continue reading
How to fire an employee right after his FMLA expires . . . and win the retaliation lawsuit.
Hey, don’t judge me. You’re just as heartless reading this as I am writing it.
The anatomy of an FMLA interference claim
An employer fires an employee after the company has approved him for intermittent leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The employee begins taking leave in separate blocks of time for a single qualifying reason. Then, the employer fires the employee. So the employee claims FMLA interference.
What exactly is FMLA interference? How does an employee prove it? And what are some defenses? Continue reading
Does FMLA cover leave for abortion? What about in states where it’s illegal?
The ink was barely dry on the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization when the U.S. Department of Labor released a statement in which the agency confirmed that it would continue “empowering women using every tool” available. Continue reading