Family and Medical Leave Act Notice Requirements Clarified by Supreme Court
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The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides qualifying employees a right to twelve weeks of unpaid leave to attend to certain personal matters. The FMLA provides, in summary, that any employee who:
may take up to 12 weeks unpaid leave within any 12 month period
during the FMLA leave, the employer must maintain the employee's individual or family health insurance coverage while the employee is on leave as if the employee continued to work; and upon return the employee must be restored to his or her original job, or to an equivalent job (one virtually identical in pay, benefits and employment terms). Under that Regulation, if an employee takes paid or unpaid leave, and the employer does not advise the employee that the leave counts against his or her twelve week FMLA entitlement, the employee is entitled to take an additional twelve weeks of FMLA leave. In Ragsdale v. Wolverine World Wide, Inc., decided on March 19, 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court held the Regulation invalid. In Ragsdale, Plaintiff was diagnosed with cancer and required surgery and radiation treatment. Under her employer's leave policy, she was entitled to seven months of unpaid leave. The employer did not notify her that twelve weeks of her leave would count as her FMLA leave. She was unable to return full time after the seven-month leave, and requested more leave. Her employer refused and discharged her after she did not return to work. She brought suit in federal court, seeking reinstatement, back pay and damages. The Supreme Court affirmed judgment in the employer's favor, holding that the Regulation exceeded the Department of Labor's authority under the FMLA. The FMLA authorizes employees to bring suit against an employer who interferes with, restrains, or denies an employee's FMLA rights, but the employee must prove that the employer impaired the employee's FMLA rights, and the employee was thereby prejudiced. The Regulation, on the other hand, created an irrebuttable presumption that the employee's rights were impaired-by the employer failing to notify the employee that the leave would count against the twelve weeks of FMLA leave. The Supreme Court decided that the Regulation was not necessary to carry out the terms of the FMLA and was an invalid exercise of the Department of Labor's powers. Nevertheless, it is a prudent employment practice to advise employees taking leave whether they are entitled to take FMLA leave and if so, whether the leave will count toward the employee's twelve-week entitlement under the FMLA. Michael D. McCormick |
