FMLA 301: Advanced strategies for navigating complex leave scenarios
Read more from the Guardian Absence Management blog
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) offers job protection for employees facing personal or family health challenges, as well as for other qualifying reasons such as bonding with a new child, military family leave, and more. However, as many HR professionals know, managing FMLA effectively is often complicated — especially when layered with remote work arrangements, state-specific leave laws, and other types of leave.
In our recent webinar, “FMLA 301: Advanced strategies for navigating complex leave scenarios,” Guardian’s Accai Bailey, Regional Absence Practice Leader, and Beverley WildSimmons, Absence Management Product Manager, provided a deep dive into the intricacies of FMLA compliance, walking through insights to help organizations navigate the ever-evolving FMLA landscape and example scenarios to apply these concepts.
Here’s a summary of the key insights:
Understanding FMLA: A quick recap
FMLA provides 12 or 26 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave within a 12-month period, along with maintenance of health benefits and reinstatement into the same or equivalent position and pay upon a return to work. It applies to private employers with 50 or more employees and to public employers. Employees qualify if they have performed at least 12 months of service (even if non-consecutive), worked 1,250 or more hours in the past year, and work at a location that has 50 or more employees within 75 miles. Qualifying events include welcoming a new child through birth or adoption, or caring for a family member with a serious health condition, among other eligible circumstances.
How does FMLA apply to remote workers?
The Department of Labor clarifies that for remote employees, the “worksite” is considered the office they report to or receive assignments from, not their home. So, if that office has 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius, the remote worker is eligible under FMLA.
What are the certification requirements?
Employers must give at least 15 calendar days for employees to provide a Certification of health care provider. A best practice for employers to consider is allowing a few extra days to account for mail delays or doctor's office processing.
If the submitted certification is incomplete, employers must provide written notice to the employee explaining what's missing and allow them at least seven days to correct it. New certification requests for the same condition cannot be made within 30 days.
How to handle late submissions?
What if the leave was denied for lack of certification, but then the employee submits a completed and sufficient medical form to support their leave after the previous denial? Employers have two options:
Cover the gap: An employer can elect to allow approval of all time covered under the certification of the health care provider, regardless of the prior denial for no certification, if the individual is still an active employee.
Don’t cover the gap: An employer may deny leave for the period between the due date provided (typically 15 days, including any grace period for mailing or delays) and the date the completed medical form is received. However, time prior to the due date and time following receipt of the form may be approved.
In navigating and selecting from these options, WildSimmons suggests, “It’s really important that organizations are treating all of their employees the same. Of course, if there are extenuating circumstances, those will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. But overall, your policy should be the same for all employees.”
Navigating the interaction of FMLA with multiple leave types
The interaction of FMLA with other benefits and leave types can be complex and often confusing. For instance, employer-sponsored benefits like short-term or long-term disability typically provide income replacement but not job protection. Job protection is generally provided by FMLA, state unpaid leave laws and varying state paid leave laws. Additionally, when the request is for an employee's own medical condition and there are no other job protected leaves, ADA and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and other state specific accommodation laws may also apply and that needs to be reviewed.
Bringing these pieces together is often like solving a puzzle. Bailey shares, “If it’s not managed or interpreted correctly, organizations can face fines, disruptive investigations, or even lawsuits if they’re not in compliance with the varying laws.”
The takeaway
“FMLA and leave management overall is very complex. Knowing the fundamentals of FMLA ultimately will help to keep you and your organization a step ahead and prevent some of those complicated situations from arising,” says Bailey.
By staying informed and implementing best practices, such as in the areas of remote work, multi-state coordination, and the interaction between federal, state, and employer policies, employers can protect the well-being of both their operations and their workforce.
Learn more
For a more in-depth look at this discussion — and to try your hand at navigating various FMLA administration scenarios — check out the full webinar here.