Category: FMLA

An employer that fired a worker who broke his little toe and then did not come to work because, he claimed, he couldn’t get his work boots on will have to let a jury decide whether he had a serious health condition under the FMLA and whether, as a result, his termination was illegal interference with his FMLA rights.  Scholl v. Miami Valley Polishing, LLC, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82946 (S.D. Ohio 2021). The company, MVP, supplies polished aluminum...

I am in the process of updating my FMLA/Wage & Hour treatise published by LEXIS/NEXIS (gratuitous self-promotion).  All this means is that I have been reading lots of FMLA cases; my blogs this week will be a teaser for what’s new in the book.  As you likely know, the challenges in applying the FMLA, ADA and workers’ compensation law when an employee needs time off from work are, at times, mind-boggling.  The interplay of these statutes in...

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that the Department of Labor incorrectly defined “workweek” for purposes of time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).  You can read the details, as well as the dissenting opinion, at Scalia v. State of Alaska, 9th Cir., No. 19-35824, 1/15/21 The FMLA grants eligible employees a “total of 12 workweeks of leave during any 12-month period” to attend to qualifying...

The U.S. Department of Labor published a request for information on July 16, 2020, seeking comments on possible revisions to the DOL’s FMLA regulations.   If you are an employer interested in submitting comments to the DOL, we can help you do that.  Just let us know.  Submissions are due on or before September 15, 2020. The notice states that “the Department seeks input from employers and employees on the current FMLA...

No question, we are in a time of high anxiety.  Friends, family and pretty much everyone else I talk to has a story about how they are dealing with the new normal in the time of COVID-19.  We all need someone to talk through stuff with.  I suspect that many Employee Assistance Plans will see an uptick in use over course of 2020. But does the person you talk to qualify as a health care provider under the FMLA?  A recent case from...