Can HR listen in on an employee's doctor's appointment?
An employee on short-term disability is ready to come back. HR tells them they need a release from the doctor who took them off work. Fair e...
Topic: leave management/FMLA
Pro tip from pop culture: Don't fire your employees while they are in the ER
By Jon Hyman
"If you fire her, she will sue you and I will testify." That's not a plaintiff's lawyer talking. That's Dr. Robby, the...
Correcting the press: unpaid leave after the FMLA expires
By Jon Hyman
Let's play one of my favorite games: correct the press. The Issue: unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. Cliff Kapla...
One headache of an FMLA case
By Jon Hyman
SEPTA fired Ephriam Rodriquez from his job as a bus driver for excessive absences. Rodriguez sued, claiming that the termination violated hi...
Spying on your sick employees is a recipe for disaster
By Jon Hyman
Do you remember the episode of The Office where Dwight stakes out Oscar's house to see if he's faking a medical condition and commi...
Call me … maybe? 6th Circuit saves FMLA claim of employee who failed to follow employer's call-in rules.
By Jon Hyman
Latrice Crispell, a 23-year employee of FCA working as a floater on its truck assembly line, suffered from major depression and anxiety, whi...
Coronavirus Update 7–22–2021: How the ADA and FMLA apply to Covid long haulers
By Jon Hyman
The risks associated with Covid-19 aren't limited to the 625,000 Americans this virus has killed or the 2.3 million hospitalizations. On...
Dream on — lawsuit by Aerosmith drummer highlights the legal risk of "fitness for duty" exams
By Jon Hyman
Joey Kramer, Aerosmith's founding and longtime drummer, is suing his band mates after they blocked him from joining them at upcoming h...
Are hangovers the next frontier of your FMLA headaches?
By Jon Hyman
A German court recently ruled that a hangover qualifies as an “illness.” Which got me thinking … are hangovers the next frontier of your...
No-fault attendance policies offer no cover when the ADA or FMLA are involved
By Jon Hyman
An employee suffering from epilepsy, migraines, and heart condition asks (with a medical note) for two unpaid days off from work unpaid to t...
The FMLA does not require that an employee use magic words to request leave
By Jon Hyman
According to the FMLA's regulations , "When an employee seeks leave for the first time for a FMLA-qualifying reason, the employee...
Employees on medical leave aren't bulletproof, but still handle with care
By Jon Hyman
One of the questions that clients ask me most often is, "________ is out on a medical / pregnancy leave (or just returned); can we fire...
Are you planning to take advantage of the IRS's employer tax credit for paid family and medical leave?
By Jon Hyman
When Congress reformed the tax law earlier this year, one key change that might have flown under your radar is an employer tax credit for pa...
Does the FMLA protect organ-donation surgery as a "serious health condition?"
By Jon Hyman
Organ donors are living saints. If you are in need of an organ to save your life, and someone is willing to sacrifice a kidney, or a liver s...
I ❤️ my wife, and I ❤️ attendance policies
By Jon Hyman
On August 29, 2003, I married my wife. The ceremony was to start at 11 am, and by 10:55 I was nervous. Not your normal, "I'm abou...
DOL publishes new employer FMLA guide
By Jon Hyman
Since I recently cut a check to the IRS for the balance due on my taxes, I thought I’d take today’s space to review how the federal govern...
Does HR understand their own personal liability for FMLA violations?
By Jon Hyman
If you’ve ever held supervisor and manager training on any employment-law issue, you know the glazed-over expression of a group of individ...
Intermittent FMLA does not permit sleeping on the job (usually)
By Jon Hyman
Let’s say you have an employee approved for intermittent FMLA for migraine headaches. Let’s also say co-workers of said employees find her...
DOL doubles down on joint employment under the FMLA
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday , we looked at the DOL’s recent guidance on joint employment under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Simultaneously with its FLSA guid...
You might want to reconsider if you send your FMLA forms via regular mail
By Jon Hyman
One of the very first things a lawyer learns in law school is the “mailbox rule.” This rule simply states that if a letter “properly direct...