Employees are becoming more savvy in ways to abuse the Family and Medical Vacation Act (FMLA), especially when they use it for intermittent leave, are not available for vacation time and illness. Employers in 2013 should not be alarmed when they ask an employee requesting the FMLA because of inappropriate fear not to violate the FMLA rules.
The rules and regulations of the FMLA with rights that should help employers in their rights and avoid any manipulation of the law. These 10 ideas should avoid abusing the FMLA.
1. Use the “rollback” of the previous 12 months when creating the FMLA. You do not have to count on the FMLA for a calendar year - and employees who believe that they can dip into two separate calendar years twice are mistaken.
2. Insist that employees pay all paid leave until they receive an unpaid FMLA leave. If employees are required to use all paid free time, they are less likely to receive unpaid FMLA time.
3. Insist that medical certificates are returned within 2 weeks. Do this in writing so that the worker fully understands that if they take the FMLA for an illness, you are eligible to receive medical certificates within 2 weeks after they return to work.
4. Insist that staff plan treatment for surgeries. This gives you time to plan around the absence, which will increase your company and department productivity.
5. Require your employee to give you 30 days; notification for predictable FMLA. Again, you are protected by effectively managing your organization and can foresee where you need to strengthen departments or the total population of employees.
6. Provide a reasonable rule of presence and call for all who are on vacation. The law allows all employers to apply a 3-day futile, not shown policy for an employee who is on FMLA leave. The employer has the right for the employee to call at regular intervals, even when they leave their homes, and that it is clearly written in the law. Employers can enforce adherence to attendance rules, which state that FMLA employees can be terminated in 5 days without a pretext.
7. Assign FMLA employees by taking periodic vacations to tackle less disruptive positions in the organization. If necessary, relocate the employee until the end of the FMLA leave.
8. Ask for “Fitness for Duty” certificates for FMLA employees who were on extended leave. But if the employee was on an intermittent FMLA leave, you cannot request such documentation.
9. Require some FMLA employees to re-certification every 30 days to ensure good health and improve the situation.
10. Employers can request a second or third opinion to ensure that an FMLA leave is required. You can ask for an objective opinion before granting FMLA leave.
