The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12 month period for certain medical conditions.  The employer must maintain an employee’s health benefits during the leave and must restore the employee to the same or similar position upon return from leave.  The Act applies to employers with 50 or more employees in a 75 mile radius.
 
Until this year, if an employee took a leave of absence that qualified under the FMLA and the employer did not provide notice to the employee that the leave was designated as FMLA, the time off could not be considered FMLA leave and the employer would have to provide additional leave later if the employee needed it.
 
In March of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Ragsdale v. Wolverine World Wide, Inc., No. 00-6029 (U.S. Mar. 19, 2002).  In the case, an employee requested and was given 30 weeks off to undergo cancer treatment.  The employer failed to notify the employee that it had designated 12 weeks of her time off as FMLA.  When the employee was unable to return at the end of the 30 weeks, she requested additional time off.  The employer refused and terminated her employment.  The employee sued arguing that, according to FMLA regulations, since the employer failed to notify her that her leave had been designated as FMLA, she still had 12 weeks of leave available.  The Supreme Court disagreed and held that while an employer is required to give notice when an employee’s leave qualifies as FMLA, it is not required to give additional FMLA leave if it fails to provide notice.
 
What should you do?
The Ragsdale decision does not eliminate an employer’s obligation to provide notice to employees that their leave qualifies under FMLA.  Even if it did, it is still recommended to provide notice to the employee to clarify expectations and avoid confusion.  If an employee requests time off for their own medical condition or that of a spouse, child or parent, below is an outline of the steps HRCentral recommends you take.
 
  Ø If the leave is expected to last more than 3 days, have the employee fill out a leave of absence request form and provide a doctor’s note or complete a Certification of Health Care Provider form.  Confirm when the employee expects to return;
  Ø Determine if your company is subject to FMLA.  Some states, such as Oregon, Washington and California have state laws similar to FMLA that apply to employers with fewer than 50 employees;
  Ø If you are subject to FMLA or state leave, determine if the employee is eligible for leave under the statute.  For FMLA, the employee must have been employed with the company for at least 1 year and have worked at least 1,250 hours within the last 12 months;
  Ø If the employee qualifies for leave, you must send notice that the leave is being designated as FMLA as soon as possible after you receive information verifying that the leave qualifies.  The notice should explain the leave provisions such as benefits continuation and job restoration.  You must also send a document entitled, “Your Rights Under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993;
  Ø Request that if the employee needs additional leave or decides not to return from leave, that he or she notify you on or before the date he or she is scheduled to return from leave;
  Ø Track the amount of FMLA the employee uses to ensure you properly designate future leaves as FMLA; and
  Ø Keep all documentation related to the leave of absence in the employee’s confidential medical file since it contains information about the employee’s or his or her family member’s medical condition.
 
If you are a current client of HRCentral and have questions about an employee who has requested leave, call your HRCentral contact right away.  If you are not a current client and have questions about FMLA or other leaves of absence, call 425.462.6286 to learn more.