FMLA Certification

njjel

We have a long-time employee who was hospitalized for 4 days, returned to work after an absence of 6 work days, and therefore I placed her on FMLA leave. She has been back to work for a month now and despite repeated requests for her certification, she still has not turned it in. Our policy states they must turn it in or the leave may be denied (however she's already had the leave and his back to work). Are we still allowed to count those days she was out toward her 12 weeks of FMLA even though she has not (and probably will not) provide us with the certification?

awilliams

You pose a very good question that a lot of HR and benefits administrators grapple with, which is: can I designate FMLA without a medical certificate? The answer in a nutshell is: yes. You do not need a certificate to designate the leave as FMLA, but it is a very good idea. What some forum members have had good luck with is refusing to allow the employee to return to work unless they provide the certificate. That usually speeds up the process, because the time that they take to get the certificate to you is not protected, therefore your regular absence policy applies. Similarly, in your situation, you could refuse to allow the employee to continue working until you get the certificate, and use your absnece/disciplinary policy if necessary. You should see some rapid results.

For a longer explanation of this answer, check out our new Special Report entitled, FMLA Leave: A Walk Through the Legal Labyrinth. If you are a Law Center Member, you should have recieved this report for free in November. If you are not a law center member, click through this website to find out how you can become one, and recieve this and other Special Reports for free.

Good luck!

Anne Williams
Attorney Editor
M.Lee Smith Publishers
Author of: FMLA Leave: A Walk Through the Legal Labyrinth