Intermittent FMLA

What is the name of your state? Indiana
I work for a casino and have a multiple handicapped child and i need to know what the policies and procedures are for submitting intermittent leave paperwork. In the past I had her doctor fill out paperwork every six months to a year (whenever HR told me i needed to have it filled out again). Now HR is requesting that i get the FMLA paperwork filled out by her doctor every month - my daughter has and will always have a seizure disorder, mental retardation, and Cerebal Palsey, she does not walk, talk, feed herself, etc. She needs 24hr care. A new director came on board and has changed the policies and has not distributed a new handbook stating these new policies and procedures for FMLA. I received a letter dated Sept. 16th by certified mail today Sept. 27th at the post office and signed for it. HR is requesting that i have this paperwork back to them by Oct. 1st. I thought i had 15 days from the day of actually receiving the letter in my hand or the date it was dated on the letter. HR has informed me that her doctor can make a copy of the previous month's paperwork and sign it each month. Do they have the right to do this? Can they change the policies? And do i have to have paperwork to renew my intermittent leave every month when my daughter's condition will never change?

The FMLA allows an employer to request recertification every 30 days. The law also says that the employee must provide the requested certification within the time frame requested by the employer (allowing at least 15 calendar days after the employer's request) unless it is not practicable for the employee to do so.

So it does not appear your employer is violating the FMLA. Given your daughter's medical condition, it seems silly to me to request you recertify every 30 days but it's legal for them to require you to do so. Since you did not receive the request until Sept 27th however, it is very likely not "practicable" for you to return the completed paperwork by Oct 1st.

My guess is that when the new director came on board, he/she found that the company's FMLA practices were somewhat sloppy and made this overall directive that recert's will be required every 30 days. However in my opinion, individual situations such as yours dictate that a more reasonable approach be adopted.

Is it possible for you to schedule a meeting with the new director, explain your daughter's medical condition which is clearly not going to change, and see if he'll relax the certification requirement to something more reasonable (say every quarter) for you? Since the company has the right to do what they're doing, the ball is in your court to approach them and seem if there's room for negotiation in their new practices.

At the very least though, you should speak to the HR Person, explain that you did not receive their certified letter until 9/27 and therefore it is not practicable for you to have it competed and returned by Oct. 1st.