Potential leave entitlement doesn't end with the exhaustion of 12 weeks of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) but may be extended for a specified period of time under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), so long as that doesn't result in an undue hardship on the employer. HR needs to coordinate ADA and FMLA obligations, including for health insurance and return to work.
"Employers often believe that their obligation to grant leave ended with the FMLA and fail to consider their obligations under the ADA or equivalent state law for additional leave," said Heather Boshak, an attorney with Fox Rothschild in Morristown, N.J.
For those workers no longer covered by the FMLA—or who never were covered by it—ADA leave may be required. Thus, even if an employee may not have worked the requisite number of hours to be entitled to leave under the FMLA, if the employee has an ADA-covered disability and needs medical leave, the worker might be entitled to leave as a reasonable accommodation, absent any undue hardship, said Jonathan Mook, an attorney with DiMuroGinsberg in Alexandria, Va.
ADA regulations require that health insurance be continued during ADA leave only if it's maintained for employees on similar leave.
Before providing ADA leave as a reasonable accommodation, employers should talk with the employee to see if another accommodation that would enable the employee to work without taking leave would be reasonable, said Charles Thompson IV, an attorney...
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