The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave

chapter 8 | Medical Certifications (Proof of Illness) | 171
All Other Conditions
For all other conditions, an employer may not request a recertification more
often than every 30 days, unless one of the three exceptions listed under
“Incapacity for More Than 30 Days” applies.
Lessons from the
Real World
Taking every Monday or Friday off might be
enough to justify a recertification.
In response to a question from an employer, the Department of Labor
(DOL) issued an Opinion Letter—an interpretation of the law—regarding
recertifications based on suspected abuse. The employer asked whether a
pattern of Friday or Monday absences might qualify as information that casts
doubt on an employee’s reasons for leave. The DOL agreed that it might, as
long as there was no evidence of a medical reason for this pattern.
Many employers were heartened not only by this guidance, but also by the
DOL’s suggestion that the employer might be able to present this information
directly to the health care provider in seeking a recertification. The DOL
wrote, “The FMLA does not prohibit an employer from including a record
of an employee’s absences along with the medical certification form for the
health care provider’s consideration in determining the employee’s likely
period of future absences. . . . [nor] from asking, as part of the recertification
process, whether the likely duration and frequency of the employee’s
incapacity due to the chronic condition is limited to Mondays and Fridays.”
Opinion Letter FMLA2004-2-A (May 25, 2004).
Cross-Reference
You can request a fitness-for-duty certification when an employee returns
to work. The FMLA allows you to ask an employee to provide a statement
from a health care provider, indicating that the employee is medically
able to perform the job, before reinstating the employee. For more
information, see Chapter 10.