The federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 has proven to be one of the most far-reaching laws ever passed into law. It fundamentally re-defined the balance employers must strike between their own work attendance requirements and their employees' need for leave for childbirth and adoption purposes as well as leave to attend to their own serious health condition and that of certain family members. Our clients pose questions to us about this law nearly every day, and undoubtedly most of you are required to apply every day to one employee or another. We developed a quiz on the FMLA where you can test your knowledge about the application of this important law:
TRUE OR FALSE
1. If a state has its own family and medical leave act, it is only necessary that an employer apply the provisions of that state law to all employees working throughout the state, as the federal law is preempted.
2. If an employee has used all of the FMLA leave she is entitled to in a given period of time, she can be terminated if the employer has a consistent policy of terminating employees after they take 12 weeks of leave.
3. If an employee is not yet eligible for FMLA because they have not worked enough hours, they can be denied leave under ADA as well.
4. If two employees who are working for the same employer either have a baby through childbirth or adopt a child, they can be required to split the 12 weeks of Federal FMLA afforded for such an event.
5. While an employee is on FMLA leave an employer must cover the cost of health insurance for the employee if they cannot afford it because FMLA leave is otherwise unpaid.
6. Dermatitis is considered a "serious health condition" under the federal FMLA.
7. An employee who falsifies his required certification form for FMLA cannot be terminated because this would still be considered retaliation for the exercise of FMLA rights.
8. An employer is prohibited from retroactively marking leave as FMLA.
9. It is improper to count time off on workers compensation leave as FMLA leave.
10. It is entirely proper to assess points under a No Fault Attendance Policy for days that an employee is absent, if the employees are put on notice that this will occur.
Next week, we will provide the answers and the critical points they address!
