The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) statute doesn’t change often. Nor do its regulations. The compliance landscape, however, can change through case law, as courts continue to address situations employers grapple with.
Here are 2 recent cases that illustrate lessons employers learned about FMLA leave administration.
Susan needed time off for her own condition. On May 23, Susan’s employer asked for an FMLA certification, indicating in general terms that she had at least 15 calendar days to get a certification, but didn’t specify a particular deadline date.
Susan originally planned to return to work on June 16. She didn’t return to work on June 16, nor did she provide a certification on or before June 16. On June 15, she was still extremely sick and emailed her employer that she would need to remain on leave until June 22. She said she would get a certification.
On June 16, however, the employer fired Susan because she hadn’t provided an FMLA certification, and she sued.
In court, the employer tried to argue that Susan wasn’t protected because she never actually took FMLA leave, in part because she didn’t get a certification.
The court said that it didn’t matter that Susan didn’t obtain the FMLA certification in time, since the employer never gave her a due date for it. She told her employer that she wanted to take FMLA leave and requested the necessary paperwork. That was enough to give her FMLA protections.
Gossett v. Jiudicy Inc. D/B/A Labor Finders,...
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