The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave

178 | the essential guide to family and medical leave
Chapter Highlights
You may postpone the start of an employee’s
leave if the need for leave was foreseeable and
the employee could have—but failed to—provide
you with 30 days’ notice.
Most employers cover an employee’s workload
during leave by asking coworkers to pick
up the slack; other methods of handling work
for an employee on leave include hiring temps,
using consultants, outsourcing the work, or
picking up some of the work yourself.
You must continue an employee’s group
health benefits while the employee is on leave.
• You may require the employee to pay his or
her usual share of the premium, in one of
several ways provided by the FMLA.
• If the employee is more than 30 days late
in making premium payments, you may
cut off insurance coverage, but only after
providing written notice to the employee
and at least 15 additional days to make up
the payments.
You can require an employee to schedule intermittent
leave so it does not unduly disrupt
your company’s operations, if the employee
needs leave for treatment or some other
foreseeable reason; the employee’s health care
provider must agree to any rescheduling.
You can temporarily transfer an employee on
intermittent leave to another position, with
equal benefits and pay, that better accommodates
the need for leave
You may request periodic status reports from
employees on FMLA leave regarding any
changes in their planned return dates or their
intent to return at all.
You may discipline or even fire an employee
who is on FMLA leave, as long as your reasons
for doing so are entirely unrelated to the
employee’s leave; before you do so, however,
you should consult with a lawyer.