FMLA Laws

[debbyz72]

I need to ask for help with the laws of FMLA and my employer. In the state law, it does not address the issue of the employer requesting a doctors note for every use of the FMLA. The only time that the law states that the employer can request documents is when a change in the situation occurs. This requires addition certification according to the law. According to my employer, they feel that they have the right to request doctors notes everytime that I use FMLA. According to my physicians, they have already submitted documents necessary for the FMLA and do not have time to keep submitting doctors notes. In which I agree but my employer does not. The employer had stated on our last meeting that from this meeting forward, I do need to obtain a doctors note when I use FMLA. I view this as being difficult. It feels as though their making rules up as they go. It also states in the law that they can not do such thing but they are and I need help fighting them.
Can you please help me?
Sincerely,
Deborah Zengel

[aaron]

If you return to work following a period of FMLA leave, and again request FMLA leave, you would file a new request. Given that your return to work following leave suggests that the problem that required leave has resolved, it is not unreasonable for the employer to want you to provide documentation in support of your new request.

[debbyz72]

I am on FMLA intermittent leave. Which means that there will be times to where if needed I can take a day or two off due to pain. This is marked by the doctors in the papers and according to the guidlines.

[aaron]

FMLA leave is ordinarily a scheduled leave - not something you take in the middle of a work day, although I grant that is possible. If you have a medical disability which impairs your ability to perform your job duties, you would probably be better served by making an appropriate assertion of your rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for those times at work when your pain gets out of control. Once you establish your right to accommodation under the ADA, you shouldn't have to keep re-documenting your needs each time you make a demand.

You may wish to consult a plaintiff-side employment lawyer in your state about your situation, and how best to assert and protect your rights.

[mlane58]

FMLA is not just a scheduled leave. It is also used on an intermittent basis for chronic conditions requiring ongoing treatment and/or appointments. An employer can request that an employee re-certify no less than every 30 days under the Family Medical Leave Act.

http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Ti...CFR825.307.htm

[aaron]

I think you're missing my point, which is not that intermittent leave is not possible under the FMLA, but that such leave would typically be scheduled (such as, as you point out, for doctors appointments), not something an employee would suddenly request in the middle of a shift. Or, as the CFR puts it:

For intermittent leave or leave on a reduced leave schedule, there must be a medical need for leave (as distinguished from voluntary treatments and procedures) and it must be that such medical need can be best accommodated through an intermittent or reduced leave schedule. The treatment regimen and other information described in the certification of a serious health condition (see Sec. 825.306) meets the requirement for certification of the medical necessity of intermittent leave or leave on a reduced leave schedule. Employees needing intermittent FMLA leave or leave on a reduced leave schedule must attempt to schedule their leave so as not to disrupt the employer's operations. In addition, an employer may assign an employee to an alternative position with equivalent pay and benefits that better accommodates the employee's intermittent or reduced leave schedule.

An employee who cannot schedule FMLA leave may well qualify for intermittent leave, but it very much makes sense for such an employee to also consider his or her rights under the ADA, which may help the employee avoid the type of recertification demand described in the initial post.

[mlane58]

I didn't miss your point. Intermittent FMLA is also used by an employee when their condition flares up as well as long as it is documented in the Certification of Health Care Provider. I am fully aware of the law and what it states. Alot of chronic conditions such as migraine headaches, bowel syndromes, lupus, etc..... can and will flare suddenly and these are acceptable under the law as being serious health conditions. You or I might not agree with them, but again I am not a physician.

[aaron]

Okay... So you're not disagreeing with me, then, but are simply observing that I am addressing the majority of cases. Nobody has denied the minority of FMLA cases where intermittent leave is possible.

[a6tsrocker60s]

If you take inttermitent leave and you or your company elects to use you paid vacation as part of your leave you are not required to submit countless recitifications.... every 30 days

good luck .....a6

[mlane58]

If you take inttermitent leave and you or your company elects to use you paid vacation as part of your leave you are not required to submit countless recitifications.... every 30 days

How about quoting the regulation that states that.[/quote]