Thanks to those who attended my webinar last week with Matt Morris on “Stop the Madness! Effective Ways to Protect Your Organization Against FMLA Abuse.” A link to access the recording can be found here, and the presentation PowerPoint slides can be downloaded here. To the nearly 7,000 people who registered for the webinar, thank you.  To those who missed it, you still have time to access the recording.  In particular, we covered: Managing…

When: Wednesday, December 11, 2019 (12:00 – 1:15 p.m. central time) Online registration:  Click here The Family and Medical Leave Act is generally considered to be an employee-friendly law, and employers have often felt helpless to do anything but approve leave requests under FMLA and similar laws. But we shouldn’t feel helpless! In this complimentary webinar, ComPsych’s Matt Morris and I will provide practical suggestions on how you can address suspected FMLA misuse in your workplace,…

I spend a decent part of my day reviewing FMLA forms, certification and correspondence. Exhilarating, for sure.  When it comes to FMLA notices, do you care hear about one of my big pet peeves?  [You: Not really interested, Jeff, but we have the feeling you’re going to tell us anyway.] It’s an issue that the far majority of employers and third-party administrators seem to violate all day, every day. What Do I See? In FMLA designation…

Can an employer discipline an employee for exceeding the frequency of expected absences indicated on an FMLA medical certification? I’m actually going to answer this question tomorrow during a free webinar sponsored by the Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC), where we will cover key FMLA and ADA cases from 2019.  I hope you can attend. [Use the code 19COMPLIANCE4] In the webinar, I will share the story of Tori, an executive assistant for an alarm monitoring…

Contrary to popular opinion, the biggest news lately out of the U.S. Department of Labor is not the fact that the agency just this week announced a final rule that would make over one million American workers newly eligible for overtime pay. Oh, no way! Why worry about minimum wage and overtime issues when the big news is forms? FMLA forms, that is. Brand. New. FMLA. Forms. In early August, the DOL published proposed new …

Earlier this year, the Department of Labor made clear in an opinion letter that neither an employee nor an employer may decline FMLA leave where an eligible employee is absent for an FMLA-qualifying reason.  As the DOL noted in this March 2019 opinion letter, this is particularly true even where the employee would prefer that the employer delay the designation of FMLA leave. This week, the DOL doubled-down on that opinion letter. Notably, the DOL’s earlier…

If I gave you a million tries, you’d never guess that the next Department of Labor FMLA opinion letter would answer the question [wait for it . . .]: Is an employee’s attendance at a child’s IEP meeting covered by the FMLA? The Answer? Yes. Most definitely, yes. In an opinion letter issued yesterday, the DOL concluded that the FMLA covers an employee’s attendance at a school meeting where their child’s individualized education program (IEP) will…