With remote work increasingly in the crosshairs, a Legal Watch blog sought to clarify that the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) does not require employers to modify jobs for employees to continue working during the 12-week FMLA period.
FMLA provides job-protected leave for absences due to serious health issues that leave an employee unable to perform their job. Examples of leave can include personal illness, time after the birth of a child, caring for a sick family member, adoption of a child or caring for a child in foster care.
During a year, an employee can take up to 26 weeks of leave, and an employer must provide reasonable accommodation during this time. Reasonable accommodation allows an employee with a disability to continue doing the essential part(s) of their job. The range of accommodation granted during the leave could also be dependent on whether the condition falls under the ADA’s definition of disability or the FMLA definition of a serious health condition.
For example, a broken leg is considered to be a short-term medical problem that is also a serious health condition under FMLA. But a broken leg may not be considered an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) disability. A disability under ADA is defined as something with physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. Some examples include visual and hearing impairments, diabetes, cancer, PTSD, chronic pain along with a variety of other conditions.
It is important that employers and employees are clear as to the level of accommodation necessary for an employee during the 12-week FMLA period. The Legal Watch blog stressed that while an employer has the choice to accommodate a non-disabled employee who wants to continue working during recovery, the employer is not mandated to such accommodations by ADA or FMLA. Expectations of the leave and its parameters should be clearly outlined and documented, so employees and employers are on the same page.
