Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Yesterday, we looked at a recent case from the California Court of Appeals that considered the issue of whether an employer could require its employee to submit to a fitness-for-duty evaluation after it had restored her to her job following an FMLA leave—even though the evaluation involved matters existing before the leave.
The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (and its state counterpart, the California Family Rights Act) imposes a variety of restrictions on how an employer can handle an employee’s medical leave, including a requirement that employers accept an employee’s healthcare provider’s certification about his or her fitness to return to work.
As an HR person, you care about people, says attorney Susan Fentin. Your impulse is to help an employee with a chronic illness. However, if the situation is driving the business down, you may not be able to help.
CFRA, FMLA, PDL—it’s a regular alphabet soup when it comes to keeping up with the laws related to managing possible pregnancy leave options in California. Let’s take a look to see what leaves may apply.
What recent changes have happened with same-sex marriage laws, and how do these affect employers and their obligations to employees under employment laws like FMLA/CFRA?
In California, employers have to juggle both FMLA and CFRA laws, and both allow protected leave on an intermittent basis. Intermittent leave is perhaps the most difficult aspect of FMLA/CFRA leaves because it presents operational and scheduling issues and inconveniences that can be frustrating for employers. Understanding intermittent leave and what can be done to minimize these frustrations and scheduling issues can go a long way toward easing the implementation of FMLA/CFRA leaves.
Administering FMLA leave is not always a simple task. Sometimes even the simplest questions become complex, such as how long is a week of FMLA leave when it’s taken in hours instead of in a full block of time? Do FMLA medical certifications expire? What certification can be requested when an employee is taking FMLA […]
California employers administering a leave of absence – be it for PDL, FMLA, or CFRA leave – have to be sure they understand which laws apply in any given circimstance. For example, which of the laws cover baby bonding time? Can that time be taken intermittently? What happens when an employee out on PDL has […]
Administering FMLA/CFRA leave can be frustrating, especially when abuse of the system is suspected. What can employers do to curb FMLA/CFRA leave abuse? Here are 7 practical steps employers can take.
FMLA and CFRA leave requirements have a lot of overlap, but there are some important distinctions for employers to be aware of. Some of these can be found in the area of medical certifications required for the employee to take the leave. For example, did you know that a California employer should not use the […]