Kourtney is exceeding her FMLA certification. What do you do?

Question:

Kourtney has been taking intermittent FMLA leave for a year and is very aware of how much leave she can take without exhausting her FMLA benefits. Kourtney constantly takes more time than the doctor indicated she needed on the certificate. How do you prevent Kourtney from abusing her FMLA and exceeding her certificate?

Answer:

Ask Kourtney to “cure” her medical certificate.

If Kourtney needs more time than what the doctor originally put on the medical certificate, she will need to be provided an updated medical certificate confirming the need for additional time off.  You can request Kourtney “cure” her medical certificate. She will have 7 days to provide a “cured” medical certificate. In the event Kourtney doesn’t return the curing request she can be denied job protection under FMLA.  If Kourtney is unable to “cure” her FMLA medical certificate, do make the mistake of just denying the leave as protected.  When FMLA ends ADA begins…for the employee’s own serious health condition, until it is determined that she is not a qualified individual with a disability OR the additional leave is unreasonable and an undue hardship.  

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