Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) compliance is tricky even for the most sophisticated employer, but following certain tips can help you avoid common violations.

“The most difficult situations seem to arise out of intermittent or reduced-schedule leaves when the need for absence is not consistent,” said Michelle Barrett Falconer, an attorney with Littler in San Francisco.

Common Missteps

There is a variety of common FMLA violations, according to Jennifer Long, an attorney with Duane Morris in Chicago. Some of those violations include:

• Failing to provide the required eligibility, rights and responsibilities, and designation notices (and, if required, the certification of health care provider) within the FMLA deadlines for doing so.
• Failing to track absences accurately or taking disciplinary action against an employee for FMLA-qualified absences.
• Permitting an employee’s FMLA-protected absences to be used against the employee in performance metrics, whether directly or as a cause of poor results.
• Requiring additional or different documentation based on the type of medical condition identified by the employee.

“Many violations may be traced to situations where supervisors and managers have not received adequate training on how to respond to or track an employee’s absences or request for time off related to their own or a family member’s medical condition,” Long said.

Sometimes, a manager fails to recognize that an employee’s request for time off is a request for FMLA...

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