For many employers, administering leave requests covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) raises more complex questions - and causes more disagreements with workers - than any other HR challenge.
What’s the safest legal way to question an employee’s FMLA leave request? Can workers claim time off under the family leave laws and other laws (e.g., workers’ compensation, ADA) at the same time? How should you keep track of requests for intermittent leave? When can you ask for a second opinion from a doctor - and who pays for it? And, what happens if an employee is not ready to return to work when the leave period ends?
It’s “one strike, and you’re out” on questions like these - because any mistake could lead to an expensive, damaging lawsuit and negative publicity.
Our experts will share the latest updates on FMLA. You’ll learn proven strategies for anticipating and managing family and medical leave requests, as well as the most common mistakes employers make in the process. And, we’ll discuss the legal dos and don’ts of dealing with potential FMLA abuses in your workplace.
You and Your Colleagues Will Learn:
- How to determine which employees qualify for FMLA leaves, and when
- Recommended procedures for responding to, and documenting, leave requests
- The most common errors HR managers make with FMLA requests - and how you can avoid repeating them
- How FMLA interacts with other laws that provide for leave, and the order in which you should apply them
- When you must reinstate employees returning from leave - and when you may terminate them
- The legal rules governing FMLA-related medical exams and inquiries
- Practical steps to handle the increased workload during employee leaves (and how you can re-integrate those employees into your operations when they return)
- The red flags that trigger your FMLA obligations, even when employees never mention “FMLA” by name
Order our 90-minute audio conference recording, which took place on February 1, 2007.
About Your Speaker:
Sarah H. Lamar, Esq., is a partner at the law firm of Hunter Maclean in Savannah, Georgia. She represents employers in state and federal courts on a variety of employment law matters, including discrimination and family leaves. Lamar also conducts in-house training for employers and advises clients on a variety of human resource issues. She is a frequent speaker on employment law topics, and she serves on the Employment Practice Group Steering Committee of the American Law Firm Association. Lamar earned her law degree from Emory University.
