The U.S. Dept. of Labor’s proposed revisions to the Family and Medical Leave Act will eliminate management’s flexibility in discouraging tardiness and controlling attendance problems, says the Society for Human Resource Management in comments to the DOL. This week’s Feature from CCH Daily Document Update reports on the SHRM position on the proposed rule changes.

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The U.S. Wage and Hour Division has released two question and answer factsheets providing information on common issues that arise when workers come down with the flu and the impact on wages and hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act and job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Read more

The military family leave provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act will be amended, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 which was signed into law by President Obama on October 28.

The changes in the law extends the 26 weeks of military care giver leave to famil Read more

An employer did not retaliate against a long-service employee for taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act when it terminated her for poor performance after she returned, the Seventh Circuit decides.

The former employee had a history of absenteeism and making numerous errors in her work, but had been taking FMLA leave just prior to management’s decision to terminate her because o Read more

A company had “constructive notice” of hours worked at home by an employee because of its “comp time” practice, and thus the employee was eligible for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Third Circuit rules.

The company had discharged the employee for “behavioral problems,” but she charged she was actually fired for requesting FMLA leave. Read more

While a company could prohibit employees on paid or unpaid leave from working for another employer, it can’t specifically prohibit employees from moonlighting while the individual is on leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, according to speakers from the U.S. Dept. Read more

In 1999, the U.S. Dept. of Labor had interpreted the Family and Medical Leave Act as allowing an eligible employee up to two business days to notify the employer that leave was taken for FMLA purposes. Read more

An employee who added to a physician’s statement certifying her serious health condition for purposes of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act can be properly denied FMLA leave and disciplined for her absences, even though she would have been entitled to the leave without the alteration, the Seventh Circuit holds.

“[W]here an employee adds to a medical care provider’s certification f Read more

An employee who was ineligible for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act because she was not in a facility with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius can proceed with her law suit based on the assurances of the company that she was eligible, an Illinois federal district court rules.

Pursuant Read more

In conjunction with the new Family and Medical Leave Act rules which will become effective on January 16, 2009, the U.S. Dept. of Labor has issued a new FMLA poster that employers with 50 or more employees must display on the company bulletin board. Read more

The U.S. Dept. of Labor estimates that the revisions to its Family and Medical Leave Act rules will result in a total first year net costs of $327.7 million and annual reoccurring costs of $244.4 million for both workers and employers. Read more

An employer which terminated a flight instructor for repeated sleeping on the job due to his sleep apnea did not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act for failure to accommodate his disability, the Fifth Circuit holds. The company also did not violate the Family and Medical Leave Act when it fired him for poor performance rather than grant his leave request, the Court says.
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The final rule for changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act, including additional leave for eligible employees to care for a seriously injured military family member or to prepare for a military deployment, has been transmitted to the Office of Management and Budget by the Dept. of Labor. Read more

An employer may have wrongfully terminated an employee for exhausting her 12-week Family and Medical Leave Act entitlement, since by her definition of the 12-month benefit year, she had not used up all of her entitlement, according to a federal court decision in Michigan.
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An employee who was working on a reduced schedule because of her medical condition, but who repeatedly failed to turn in medical certification forms under the Family and Medical Leave Act despite being warned by her employer, was properly terminated from her position, the Seventh Circuit decides.
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