Administering FMLA/CFRA leave can cause headaches even for the most organized of HR professionals. What are the legal notices the employer is required to provide? What can the employer ask the employee to provide and how much notice can be required? Does your organization know how to proceed when a leave request comes in?
Administering FMLA/CFRA leave
What is the first action an employer should take upon receiving a request for leave?
Upon receiving a request for leave from an employee, “HR then needs to send the employee an Eligibility Notice within 5 business days—it’s an FMLA requirement.” Mary Topliff told us in a recent CER webinar.
This is the first step because the eligibility notice is going to tell the employee whether or not they qualify for FMLA leave (i.e. they meet the eligibility requirements). The Department of Labor has an Eligibility Notice form that you can use.
“I think it’s easier and better to craft your own form – particularly in California – so you can include all the different types of leave that might be available, as opposed to just the FMLA leave.” Topliff advised. This personalized form could be used for the FMLA/CFRA leave request and could also be used for the eligibility notice. The employee should also be informed at this point of any certifications required for the FMLA/CFRA leave to be granted.
Assuming they’re eligible, the next step is for the employee to submit the completed certification form. Once the employee has been advised about the required certifications, the employee has 15 calendar days to submit the completed medical certification form. When the form is complete, HR then sends a Designation Notice of Approval/Denial of Leave within 5 business days from receipt of completed documentation from the employee or health care provider.
“CFRA has a little bit different time frame.” Topliff explained. It is 10 business days from the request. “But if you default to the FMLA time frame then you should be okay because it is more restrictive time frame than what CFRA actually provides.”
“Tailor these kinds of forms to the employee so that you’re identifying what type of leave this employee has requested. And then you can provide the specifics that pertain to your company in terms of what the premium payment schedule is going to be for benefits (if any); how the employee is going to get paid during the leave, and so forth, as well as other responsibilities that you want to be sure to mention to the employee. [Provide] some kind of overview of what the process is.” Topliff advised.
The above information is excerpted from the webinar “Intermittent Leave in California: FMLA/CFRA Calculation, Tracking and Authentication Strategies, and More.” To register for a future webinar, visit CER webinars.
Mary Topliff, Esq., founded the Law Offices of Mary L. Topliff in San Francisco, specializing in employment law counseling, training, and compliance, while focusing on practical solutions to avoid costly legal issues. Topliff is also a published author and frequent speaker on legal issues impacting the workplace.