Best Employment Attorney Answers: Does my job have to inform me about my FMLA rights? How long does my employer have to respond to my FMLA leave request? How do I know what medical documentation that my employer needs to process my FMLA leave request?
There are typically two types of claims arising out of the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), which is a federal law that provides unpaid leave from work to address personal or family medical issues. (See if you qualify for FMLA leave: My Job Says I Don’t Qualify For FMLA Leave. What Do I Do?). Most employees come to see our employment law attorneys when then have been wrongful terminated for asking for or taking FMLA. This falls under the claim of FMLA retaliation.
However, the most overlooked FMLA claim is for FMLA interference, which occurs when your employer interferes with, restrains, or denies the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, any FMLA right. The obvious example is when a boss or manager simply denies an employee the right to take any FMLA time off. Another example is when the owner of your company tells you that you should not have surgery and time off under the FMLA because this is a busy season. Your job cannot manipulate your hours to prevent you from becoming eligible for leave under the FMLA – this would also be FMLA interference.
FMLA interference claims can also arise from your company’s failure to comply with the notice requirements mandated by the FMLA. These notice requirements include:
- Providing a physical or electronic poster or handbook provision that identifies general FMLA rights;
- Expressly telling employees of their rights to job restoration and maintenance of health and other benefits;
- Telling employees about their FMLA responsibilities, which must include, the employer’s requirements, if any, for the employee to provide medical certification and the consequences for not doing so;
- Providing instructions for the employee to make any premium payments for health benefits that the employee must make during leave as well as the employee liability for payments if that employee does not come back to work after taking FMLA leave;
- Informing employees whether specific leave is being counted as FMLA or non-FMLA leave, and, if it is FMLA leave, how much of that time that will count against their allotted 12 weeks of FMLA leave per year and the designated dates for how the year is being calculated;
- Responding within five business days of an employee’s initial request for leave or when the employer acquires knowledge that an employee leave may be for an FMLA-qualifying reason, including whether the employee is eligible for FMLA, and if not, provide at least one reason why not;
- Providing within five business daysof having enough information a written determination whether the leave is FMLA-qualifying; and
- If an employer is unable to determine whether a leave request should be designated as FMLA-protected because a submitted certification is incomplete or insufficient, providing written notice specifically stating what additional information is needed.
Understanding the intricacies of the FMLA requirement is critical to evaluating potential FMLA claims. This is why it is essential to select the very best and most knowledgeable employment law firm that you can find.
If you feel that you are being wrongfully denied medical leave rights under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or are being retaliated against for taking medical leave, you should call the right attorney as quickly as possible to schedule a free and confidential consultation. The best option is not to wait. Call our top attorneys in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Detroit, and Toledo. Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm, and its attorneys are experienced and dedicated to protecting disabled employees’ rights under the FMLA, ADA and Ohio employment law. Our lawyers will be here to get you the FMLA leave that you are entitled to or fight to get you paid for being wrongfully fired.
Disclaimer:
Spitz’s employment law website is an advertisement. The materials available at the top of this medical leave page and on this employment law website are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice to employees. If you are still asking, “do I qualify for medical leave under the FMLA?”, “what should I do if my supervisor won’t give me medical leave?”, “can my boss deny me medical leave to care for my sick son?”, “what should I do if I was fired in retaliation for taking FMLA leave to get cancer treatment?”, or “is my employer allowed to demote me for taking FMLA leave”, your best option is to contact an Ohio medical leave attorney to obtain advice with respect to FMLA questions or any particular employment law issue. Use and access to this employment law website or any of the links contained within the site do not create an attorney-client relationship. The legal opinions expressed at or through this site are the opinions of the individual lawyer and may not reflect the opinions of The Spitz Law Firm, LLC, Brian Spitz, or any individual attorney.