By now, we all (hopefully) have our Family and Medical Leave Act “FMLA” procedures down to a science. After twelve years of practice, most employers are very familiar with the basic eligibility standards, paperwork requirements, and timekeeping rules involved with this legislation. Recent case law, however, serves to define, limit, enhance, and sometimes confuse what you thought was standard procedure. From the moment an employee gives notice (or not!) of their need to take leave, to the time an organization asks them to leave with a severance package, the FMLA controls an employer’s options, as the cases discussed in this article instruct.
