Unfortunately, some workers do try to take unfair advantage, at the expense of both their honest co-workers and their organization’s productivity.

Spotting and catching the abusers without landing in hot water yourself is not easy. Do you know the safest legal way to question an employee’s FMLA leave request? What do you do if a worker simultaneously claims time off under the family leave laws and other laws (e.g., workers’ compensation, the Americans with Disabilities Act)? Do you know how to properly keep track of intermittent leave? Or when you can ask for a second, or even a third, medical opinion – and who pays for it? What do you do with employees who say they’re not ready to return to work when their leave expires?

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.

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. We’ll also discuss the do's and don’ts of deterring family and medical leave abuses without affecting the morale of the rest of your workforce or exposing yourself to avoidable legal risks.

You and your colleagues will learn:

• How to accurately 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
• 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 tips for handling the increased workload during employee leaves (and how you can effectively re-integrate those employees into your operations when they return)
• The red flags that trigger your FMLA obligations, even when employees never mention “FMLA” or “family leave” by name
• How far you should go in disciplining employees who abuse the system
• How to create a workplace environment that discourages abuses of the family leave laws

Darren Feider, Esq., is a member at the Seattle, Washington, office of law firm Williams, Kastner & Gibbs, PLLC. His practice involves general employment litigation of wrongful discharge and discrimination claims, the drafting of employment and consulting contracts, noncompete agreements and severance packages for both employees and employers, and conducting investigations for private and public employers in response to EEOC and Washington State Human Rights Commission complaints. He has represented employers in unpaid wage actions, and he also handles general commercial litigation.

Approved for Recertification Credit

This program has been approved for 1.5 recertification credit hours toward PHR and SPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI). For more information about certification or recertification, please visit the HRCI homepage at www.hrci.org.

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