This audio conference was recorded on Thursday - March 26, 2009

Credits:

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. The use of this seal is not an endorsement by HRCI of the quality of the program. It means that this program has met HRCI’s criteria to be pre-approved for recertification.

Description:

In January, employers across the country were hit with brand-new updates to the Family and Medical Leave Act.

These new leave rules--which ran a mind-numbing 762 pages in the Federal Register--make sweeping changes to the way you handle many common FMLA situations:

• Deciding what constitutes a “serious health condition”
• Scheduling (and accounting for) intermittent leave
• Requesting and confirming medical certifications and fitness-for-duty certifications
• Allowing employees to substitute sick leave, vacation days, and other paid time off for FMLA leave
• Handling questions about gaps in service
• Providing sufficient FMLA notice to your employees – and enforcing your policies that require workers to give you notice when they’re taking time off for FMLA reasons
• Dealing with absences related to the brand-new FMLA military caregiver rules

Order this in-depth audio conference recording on what you need to know now. Our speaker – an experienced employment attorney who’s counseled many employers on FMLA matters – will break everything down into plain English and share strategies for making sure you’re in compliance.

Speaker(s):

Margaret M. DiBianca, Esq., is an associate in the employment group of Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP. She devotes her practice to counseling clients in employment law compliance and defending employers in federal and state courts and before administrative agencies. Also, she regularly provides in-house training to managers and supervisors and teaches best-practice seminars to human resources professionals and in-house counsel. She is the acting editor of DelawareEmploymentLawBlog.com. DiBianca earned her law degree at Villanova Law School.

You and your colleagues will learn:

• What’s changed with FMLA rules, and what you need to do in response
• The new rules on medical certifications and doctor visits for employees with chronic medical conditions
• How to interpret and apply both the new and previously released changes that apply to military families
• When, under the new rules, you’re allowed to ask for a fitness-for-duty evaluation
• The new restrictions on your supervisors, which were designed to enhance employee privacy
• What the new changes mean for your perfect attendance programs
• What you can do – and what you should never do – when reviewing and investigating potential FMLA abuses by your workers
• The changes to the notice requirements – and why they’re considered good news for employers
• The most common mistakes many employers have already made with these brand-new FMLA regs (and how you can avoid repeating them!)