The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) does not require employees to use any specific certification form. An employer may provide employees with the Department of Labor’s optional-use forms.
These are available on the Department’s website at https://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/forms.htm. An employer may also develop their own certification forms, but it may not request any additional information beyond what is specified in the FMLA and its regulations.
In addition to not requesting any additional information beyond what is specified by the regulation, the employer needs to ensure that important information from the rights and responsibilities form is not omitted.
Employer’s failure to provide proper FMLA notices to the employees will be ruled by courts as interference with employee’s rights. So many cases have resulted in employers paying $275,000 or more for failure to comply. Notification is a vital component of FMLA leave.
If you would like to learn more about the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) as well as laws that that do or could impact you as an HR Professional while earning continuing education credits towards your SHRM or HRCI certification please join me at one of my upcoming Certificate Program Trainings on topics such as FMLA, ADA, Pregnancy Descrimination, Employment Laws, Interviewing Skills, OSHA and Sexual Harassment Law and Investigation Techniques.
If you would like to learn more about our SHRM-CP®, SHRM-SCP®, aPHR™, PHR®, SPHR® Exam Prep Courses and Boot Camps please check out our upcoming Exam Prep Trainings and check out our Student Testimonials and Success Stories.
Test your knowledge:
- What forms is the employer required to provide to the employee when they are put on notice of a qualifying FMLA leave and within how long?
- How many days does the employer need to provide to the employee to return a completed certification of health care provider form?
- What does the employer need to do if the certification of health care provider is not returned by the employee within the time allowed by the regulation?
- If the certification of health care provider is incomplete, how many more days does the employer need to provide to the employee to “cure the deficiencies’?
- Once the employer has enough information in the certification of health care provider to approve or deny the FMLA request, within how many days does the designation letter need to be provided?
FMLA forms are available on the Department’s website
WH-381, Notice of Eligibility and Rights & U.S. Department of Labor Responsibilities https://www.dol.gov/whd/forms/WH-381.pdf
WH-380-E, Certification of Health Care Provider for Employee’s Serious Health Condition https://www.dol.gov/whd/forms/WH-380-E.pdf
WH-380-F, Certification of Health Care Provider for Family Member’s Serious Health Condition https://www.dol.gov/whd/forms/WH-380-F.pdf
WH-384, Certification of Qualifying Exigency for Military Family Leave https://www.dol.gov/whd/forms/WH-384.pdf
WH-385, Certification for Serious Injury or Illness of a Covered Servicemember for Military Family Leave https://www.dol.gov/whd/forms/WH-385.pdf
Designation Notice https://www.dol.gov/whd/forms/WH-382.pdf
Answers
- Notice of Eligibility & Rights and Responsibilities – within 5 business days
- 15 calendar days
- Provide the employee with a designation letter stating that the FMLA request is being denied for failure to return to the employer a completed certification form
- 7 calendar days
- 5 business days
If you would like to learn more about the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) as well as laws that that do or could impact you as an HR Professional while earning continuing education credits towards your SHRM or HRCI certification please join me at one of my upcoming Certificate Program Trainings on topics such as FMLA, ADA, Pregnancy Descrimination, Employment Laws, Interviewing Skills, OSHA and Sexual Harassment Law and Investigation Techniques.
If you would like to learn more about our SHRM-CP®, SHRM-SCP®, aPHR™, PHR®, SPHR® Exam Prep Courses and Boot Camps please check out our upcoming Exam Prep Trainings and check out our Student Testimonials and Success Stories.
