The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave

76 | the essential guide to family and medical leave
Common Mistakes Regarding Serious Health
Conditions—And How to Avoid Them
Mistake 1: Denying FMLA leave for conditions that are covered.
Avoid This Mistake By:
• Asking an employee to get a medical certification (see Chapter 8) whenever
a serious health condition might be present. It’s not your job to diagnose
a serious health condition: Leave that up to the health care provider.
• Remembering that seemingly minor ailments can be serious health
conditions. Even colds, stomachaches, and dental problems can qualify
as serious health conditions if they meet the criteria.
• Keeping in mind that the “three-day rule” doesn’t apply to every type
of serious health condition. An employee with a chronic serious health
condition or pregnancy complications is entitled to leave even if the
employee isn’t incapacitated for more than three days in a row.
Mistake 2: Denying FMLA leave to care for covered family members.
Avoid This Mistake By:
• Asking the employee to provide documentation of the familial relationship.
• Understanding that “parents” and “children” refers not only to legal
parents and children, but also to those whom the employee takes care of
or who took care of the employee when he or she was a child.
• Not distinguishing between biological children and adopted or foster
children.
Mistake 3: Failing to designate time off for an illness, injury, or disability as
FMLA leave, if appropriate.
Avoid This Mistake By:
• Making it your practice to automatically think of the FMLA when an employee
takes time off for any physical or mental ailment. If it is a serious
health condition, you will want to designate that time as FMLA leave.
• Considering whether an employee who goes out with a workers’ comp
injury is covered by the FMLA. (The answer will almost always be “yes,”
for reasons explained in Chapter 11.) l