FMLA Interference

[wildandpeaceful]

PA.

Hi I work at a hospital in Philadelphia and had to take FMLA out for my mother since last year. Every six months I get recertified. I am on intermittent FMLA and on occasion, I have to come in late to work to take my mom to doctors appointments etc. I was written up for coming in late (according to our rules of conduct policy at the hospital) even though these lateness were FMLA related. I calle to tell them I was gonna be late, I follow the procedure by telling them that this is FMLA related. I have put a grievance in with the hospital but the outcome is still pending. My real question is, in the grievane meeting the manager informed me that my previous recertification stated that the approval was to care for my mother and take my mother to doctor's appointments. The new certification stated that it was only to take my mother to Scheduled appointments. The manager brought this up to me because right before our grievance meeting, I had to call out on FMLA to take my mother to the Emergency Room. She says that because the new recertification says Scheduled appointments that this was not FMLA. I subsequently went to the Human Resources department and asked them to reword it and let them know that I have to take care of my mother, take her to appointments and to the emergency room on occasion and to take care of her personally. The HR department changed the letter but now states that whenever I am out (or late I presume) I have to have a doctors note. I have read our rules of conduct regarding FMLA time and no where in the policy does it state that I have to have a doctors note when I have been approved and have recertified about three times now. On my previous approval the letter states that the manager reserves the right to request physician notes for each FMLA qualitfying absence upon your return. The new ceritfication says that I HAVE to provide a doctors note. Do I have a case?

 

[Beth3]

If you are on approved intermittent FMLA, then your employer cannot require you to bring in a doctor's note every time you are absent to care for your mother. Your employer can, however, require you to file FMLA recertification paperwork every 30 days.

Your employer does have the right to go by exactly what the doctor has stated in the FMLA paperwork and if it only cites scheduled appointments, then they can limit approved FMLA to that. That seems pretty petty to me though, unless they feel you've been abusing your intermittent FMLA privileges. (Or more likely you have a fair number of co-workers who have filed for intermittent FMLA and your employer is indeed seeing a lot of abuse from others so they have "cracked down" on everyone.)

If your employer is insisting on doctor's notes for absences that clearly fall under the FMLA certification you've already filed, then that is indeed a violation of the law.