INTERMITTENT FMLA REQUESTS CAN BE TRICKY—FOR MANAGEMENT

What if an employee’s MD certified that due to the employee’s chronic but intermittent illness he is likely to be absent for five periods of two to three days each every six months, but the employee ends up needing to stay home twice as often as the MD predicted? Can the employer refuse to approve the extra FMLA leave needed? Can it fire the employee for unapproved absences? The answer will surprise you. Check out the article entitled, “Employee Fired for Absences Exceeding his Certification Can Raise a Viable FMLA Claim,” which was posted on the FMLA Insights blog page.