Articles Discussing General Issues Under The FMLA.

Based on our experience advising hundreds of employers and closely watching court rulings on cases around the country, we offer a few tips for complying with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Employers should follow their own policies with respect to FMLA leave and requests for time off. To

On August 15, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held in Roberts v. Gestamp West Virginia, LLC, that an employer’s “usual and customary” notice procedures relating to absences extended beyond the company’s written policies and potentially included social media messages between an employee and manager.

Yeah, I get it. He’s taller than me. Significantly taller.

Ever since my son, Luke, was a wee lad, we dreamed of going on a major league baseball road trip together.

Baseball runs through our veins, so after years of dreaming, 2022 was our year.  Since the beginning of this

On March 6, 2022, HBO premiered the show Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, chronicling the showtime era of the Lakers dynasty. The show is based on the book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s by Jeff Pearlman. The show

For six seasons, fans of the NBC hit drama This is Us tuned in each week to watch the Pearson Family saga unfold and to have a collective soul cleansing cry. This is Us delicately weaved in and out of  multiple time periods to tell the heartwarming story of

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for specified family and medical reasons. On June 1, 2022, the Seventh Circuit held that employers can be found in violation of

Can an employer violate the FMLA even though it never denies an employee’s request for FMLA leave?

Ask Salvatore Ziccarelli, who we’ll call Sal for short. Sal worked for the Sheriff as a corrections officer in my backyard, Cook County, Illinois.

Over the course of 27 years working for

On May 25, 2022, during Mental Health Awareness Month, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor, the agency responsible for enforcing the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), issued Fact Sheet # 28O and related Frequently Asked Questions, which discuss mental health and leaves of absence

The client calls are a regular part of my everyday, increasingly so during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stress. Anxiety. Depression.

The causes are as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Simply put, a growing number of our employees are dealing with serious mental health issues that render them unable to

Sometimes employers’ policies will require an employee to notify more than one person about taking FMLA leave. This can be for very legitimate reasons. It might be that an employee is required to notify a supervisor and HR. Or, an employee might be asked to notify a Third Party Administrator (commonly abbreviated as a TPA), in addition to someone at the company. Although some courts have upheld an employer’s right to require an employee to notify multiple parties about FMLA leave, others have limited employer options.

On March 9, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued an employer-friendly decision in Anderson v. Nations Lending Corporation. Despite some facially bad facts—including that the employee was discharged only four days after returning from leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and subject

If you’re not attending my two-day FMLA master class/party next week (there still is time!), you might find this additional resource helpful for your FMLA efforts.

Every February, the American Bar Association’s Federal Labor Standards Legislation Committee publishes a comprehensive report of FMLA decisions handed down by the federal courts

They’re baaaaaack!

Earlier this month, the Department of Labor announced that it would ramp up FMLA audits (as well as wage and hour audits generally) on employers, particularly those in the warehouse and logistics industries.

Noting the increased demand and the constraints on the global supply chain “have combined to

As I celebrate my third anniversary at Littler, I’d like to invite you to an FMLA party.

Seriously.

A party where we spend seven hours together over two straight days discussing nothing but the F-M-L-A.

Are you excited yet!?! Let me explain more.

FMLA Master Class

For years, many of

Hey, thanks for hitting on that clickbait!

Now that you’re here, let me tell you the story of Antonio Brown, soon-to-be former football player for  the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This past Sunday, Brown engaged in a verbal spat on the sidelines with the Buc’s head coach, Bruce Arians, over whether