FMLA Laws

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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:

Quote:

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Quoting 29 CFR 825.117

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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.

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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.

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.

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.

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

Quote:

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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

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

if the company has choosen for you to use pd leave for intermintent leave (meaning subsituted vacation time )then you do not have to recertifly every 30 days

reg #825.305 (e) ty very much

The reason I asked you to provide the reg where you got your information is that I knew that wasn't a true statement. You seem to be interperting the reg.

825.305 (e)
If the employer's sick or medical leave plan imposes medical
certification requirements that are less stringent than the certification requirements of these regulations, and the employee or employer elects to substitute paid sick, vacation, personal or family leave for unpaid FMLA leave where authorized (see Sec. 825.207), only the employer's less stringent sick leave certification requirements may be imposed.

You need to re-read the regulation as it doesn't refer anywhere that you aren't required to submit countless certifications. It states above that the employer's less stringent leave certification requirements may (key word) be imposed.

ok well its a lot harder to get fmla then 99% of the companies policy for leave dont you think?

ok let me ask you this? I am a diabectic on intermitent leave . My company has choosen me to use my vacation time up when I'm off a full day ( 1 for 1 ) on days I'm only miss a hr or 2 its just counted against my alotment. I am on a insulin pump, the company knows that I will be a diabetic the rest of my life or the duration of my employment ,why continually herrass me to get a recertafication every 30 days when in conjuntion with a day out of work what recoruse do I have ? my doctors are not happy having to comply with my companies continuios asking for silly recerafications >???

That really depends on what your provides states on the certification for how long the duration is. You state it is for a lifetime, but if the provider doesn't state that, then the employer is well within their rights to request a re-certification or when circumstances change. Under the language of FMLA;

29 CFR 825.308

(b)(1) If the minimum duration of the period of incapacity specified
on a certification furnished by the health care provider is more than 30 days, the employer may not request recertification until that minimum duration has passed unless one of the conditions set
forth in paragraph (c)(1), (2) or (3) of this section is met.

(2) For FMLA leave taken intermittently or on a reduced leave
schedule basis, the employer may not request recertification in less than the minimum period specified on the certification as necessary for such leave (including treatment) unless one of the conditions set forth in paragraph (c)(1), (2) or (3) of this section is met. (c) For circumstances not covered by paragraphs (a) or (b) of this section, an employer may request recertification at any reasonable interval, but not more often than every 30 days, unless: