Welcome to the first in a series of blogs examining often overlooked or misunderstood provisions of common employment law topics. Today we will be covering four pitfalls that employers may inadvertently encounter when navigating the federal Family & Medical Leave Act ("FMLA").

The FMLA applies, with limited exception, to employers with 50 or more employees during 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding year. It in turn provides eligible employees with up to 12 weeks (or, in limited instances involving care of a military servicemember, 26 weeks) of unpaid, job-protected leave for reasons including an employee's own serious health condition; caring for a parent, spouse or child with a serious health condition; bonding with a newly born or placed child; and needs relating to a family member's military service.

Covered employers have very specific obligations under the law when it comes to determining employee eligibility for FMLA leave, communicating an employee's rights and responsibilities, and designating leave as covered under the law. The FMLA is a technical law governed heavily by an extensive set of regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL"). As such, the FMLA regulations (29 C.F.R. 825.100 et seq.) should be the first stop when considering nuances in interpreting and applying the law to common scenarios. However, the DOL, which enforces the FMLA, has also addressed many nuanced issues in non-binding, yet still informative opinion...

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