cmonfils | March 26, 2012
Q: An employee who recently returned from FMLA leave claims that a portion of his leave of absence should not count against his FMLA entitlement because he responded to a number of work-related e-mails and telephone calls while he was out. Can we still count this time as FMLA leave?
cmonfils | March 19, 2012
CINCINNATI—The one-day suspension a state worker received for taking time off to see his dying mother may have violated the Family Medical Leave Act, a federal appeals court has ruled in overturning a lower court dismissing the case.
cmonfils | March 2, 2012
As I reported last month, the Department of Labor has been working with the Office of Management and Budget to extend the life of its model FMLA forms, which expired on December 31, 2011. If you checked the DOL website today, you would find that the Department now has approval to use its model FMLA forms through February 28, 2015. The ”new” forms can be accessed here.
cmonfils | March 2, 2012
This week, HR Policy President and CEO Jeff McGuiness wrote a strong letter to DOL Secretary Hilda Solis expressing our disappointment in her Department’s failure to effectively implement the President’s regulatory reform agenda, including a proposed new rule that would make it even more difficult for employers to provide and track incremental FMLA leave.
cmonfils | February 17, 2012
This week, the Department of Labor’s Wage & Hour Division announced that it would soon propose requiring Family and Medical Leave Act leave to be made available in the “smallest leave increments” used by the employer, which would abandon the one-hour increment adopted during the Bush administration.
cmonfils | February 6, 2012
Three years after the effective date of the latest revision to regulations under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), issues concerning the FMLA continue to be a focus of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the courts.
http://www.insidecounsel.com/2012/01/23/labor-checking-in-with-recent-and-upcoming-fmla-de
cmonfils | February 6, 2012
The federal Family and Medical Leave Act protects an employee’s pre-eligibility request for post-eligibility leave, the federal appeals court in Atlanta has held. Pereda v. Brookdale Senior Living Communities, Inc., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 492 (11th Cir. Jan. 10, 2012). The Eleventh Circuit has jurisdiction over Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Accordingly, the Court found that the lower court erred when it dismissed a pregnant employee’s FMLA interference and retaliation claims.
cmonfils | February 5, 2012
Leaves of absence requirements are among the most vexing part of HR administration for most employers. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and related state law requirements cause practical headaches and risks of litigation for the unwary. Through a four part series, we will try to demystify family and medical leave obligations and provide a practical guide for compliance. More detailed information is available on our website.
cmonfils | February 3, 2012
Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced on Jan. 30 that the U.S. Department of Labor is issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking to implement new statutory amendments to the Family and Medical Leave Act that would expand military family leave provisions and incorporate a special eligibility provision for airline flight crew employees.
cmonfils | February 3, 2012
Regulations implementing expansions to the Family and Medical Leave Act will be proposed Monday, the White House announced today.
The 2009 legislative amendments added FMLA coverage for caregivers of wounded and ill service members and veterans. It also provided eligible employees the ability to take FMLA leave to tend to “qualifying exigencies” stemming from a service member’s deployment.
cmonfils | February 3, 2012
Most employment laws include provisions protecting employees from vindictive managers who would otherwise punish them for exercising their rights. The Family and Medical Leave Act is no exception. Late last year, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division released Fact Sheet # 77B explaining the FMLA’s anti-retaliatory provisions. Here are some highlights:
cmonfils | January 25, 2012
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently held in a case of first impression in this circuit that the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) “protects a pre-eligibility request for post-eligibility leave.” That is, the FMLA protects an employee who gives notice, before she is eligible for leave, of intent to take FMLA leave for a qualifying reason once she becomes eligible. Pereda v. Brookdale Senior Living Communities, Inc., D.C. Docket No. 0:10-cv-60773-FAM, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (January 10, 2012).
cmonfils | January 22, 2012
HR professionals may often see the following scenario: An employee is granted FMLA leave to treat a serious health condition that poses long-term restrictions and limitations; 12 weeks pass; the employee fails to return to work; company terminates employee under a “no-fault” absence policy. The employer granted the full 12 weeks allowed by the FMLA, so it is free to terminate, right?
cmonfils | January 13, 2012
Top brass may have the last word when it comes to adverse actions. But even comments made by lower-level managers — including those in human resources — may be used to support the kind of discrimination claim that often follows in the highly emotional climate following a layoff.
A recent appeals court ruling in a Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) case illustrates the consequences for a company when HR doesn’t fully support the decision.
cmonfils | January 10, 2012
The FMLA was created to allow employees time off to deal with their own serious health conditions or those of family members who need medical care. But the law carefully balances the rights of employees to keep their jobs while facing temporary hardships with the rights of employers to run their businesses.
That’s one reason the statute and the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) FMLA regulations give employers several options for calculating how much leave employees are entitled to at any given time. Most employers choose one of these two:
