Vigilant Blog

You may have heard that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued “new” model forms for employers to use under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), after the “old” forms expired on December 31, 2011. Don’t get too excited; the only thing that has happened is that the Office of Management and…

When winter weather forces your facility to close or employees to stay home, do you know your obligation to pay for that time? The rules depend on whether the employee is exempt from overtime. Under federal law, nonexempt employees do not have to be paid for any time they don’t work, unless you have a…

Not only can an employer be sued for allegedly denying an employee the right to take leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), but supervisors and HR decision makers may also face individual liability for their actions. An employee sought FMLA leave to care for her disabled son, but she asked for…

Campbell v. Verizon, ED Virginia, Sept. 2011). Terminating an employee for activities that are seemingly inconsistent with FMLA leave requires close scrutiny on a case-by-case basis. Don’t assume that an employee is lying about their FMLA leave or underlying condition if they are taking vacations or enjoying themselves during leave. While this employee crossed a…

The federal Family and Medical leave Act (FMLA) doesn’t protect an employee’s right to take time off to visit grandma, right? Not so fast. In a recent case from a federal court in Missouri, an employee presented enough evidence to proceed to trial over whether he should have been granted FMLA leave to visit his…