The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave

2 | the essential guide to family and medical leave
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a law with an undeniably
noble purpose: to help employees balance the demands of work with
personal and family health needs. Since the FMLA was enacted in
1993, millions of employees have relied on it to protect their jobs while
taking time off to recover from a serious illness, care for an ailing family
member, or bond with a new child.
Surveys conducted by the Department of Labor (DOL), the federal agency
that administers and enforces the law, show that the majority of companies
covered by the FMLA find it very or somewhat easy to administer and that it
has had little or no impact on company productivity, profitability, or growth.
But managers and human resources professionals know that there’s another
side to this story. Experience has shown that it can be difficult to apply the
FMLA when real employees take leave in the real world. For example, do
you know what to do in these situations?
• An employee who needs leave is also covered by workers’ compensation,
a state family and medical leave law, and/or the Americans With
Disabilities Act—and the requirements of those laws appear to conflict
with the FMLA.
• An employee asks for time off but won’t tell you why or is reluctant to
reveal personal medical information that might entitle the employee to
leave.
• An employee wants to take FMLA leave at your company’s busiest time
of year.
• An employee wants to take time off as needed for a chronic ailment,
rather than all at once, and can’t comply with your company’s usual callin
procedures.
• An employee doesn’t give exactly the right amount or type of notice,
forgets to hand in a medical certification form, or can’t return to work as
scheduled.
• An employee decides, after taking FMLA leave, not to come back to work.