Master Class Agenda

Registration 7:30 a.m.–8:30 a.m.

Part I—Mastering FMLA Fundamentals

FMLA Eligibility: Granting Leave When It’s Due and Getting It Right 8:30 a.m.–9:00 a.m. Could you be missing critical first steps in managing FMLA leave—determining employee eligibility? A defined, consistent process helps you not only deny leave when employees don’t qualify, you’ll grant leave for a period that is reasonable and necessary when they do. In this opening session, gain new insights on eligibility determinations and recent trends and developments affecting leave. You’ll be armed to adjust policies and practices in 2020 to ensure compliance with the changing regulatory, legal, and practical landscape. You’ll learn:

• How to determine FMLA eligibility quickly and easily
• How the FMLA rules and related court decisions define who qualifies as a covered family member
• How to coordinate leave for workers caring for adult children
• Rules related to determining in loco parentis status
• How to coordinate state and federal leave when definitions of “covered family member” differ

Managing Serious Health Conditions and Medical Certifications 9:00 a.m.–10:00 a.m. At the heart of many FMLA leave requests is the serious health condition. The regulations do offer some guidance and allow you to require medical certification, yet there are a multitude of reasons for needing time off. Assessing those reasons requires keen judgment, and this session will show you how to make the right call. You’ll learn about:

• Illnesses and injuries that may be serious health conditions -- even though the regulations say they generally aren’t
• How many health conditions it takes to be “serious”
• What to do if a medical certification is incomplete or unclear
• Your options if an employee or doctor doesn’t cooperate with obtaining the required certifications
• When you may require employees to provide recertification of a serious health condition
• The “do’s and don’ts” of return-to-work certifications

Break 10:00 a.m.–10:15 a.m.

Meeting FMLA Deadlines: Notification, Curbing Abuse, and Preventing Claims 10:15 a.m.–11:00 a.m. FMLA is ruled by deadlines for giving and receiving information, for measuring how much leave has been taken, and for determining how much leave employees have remaining in a given year. A good grasp of timing rules—and learning how to monitor other key areas of FMLA usage—can help you prevent abuse of FMLA entitlements and fend off litigation. This session covers:

• How to give the four kinds of FMLA notices—on time and on point
• What to do if an employee refuses FMLA designation
• Selecting the best type of FMLA leave year for your organization
• Counting holidays that fall during leave
• Rules regarding “making up” FMLA leave
• Handling suspected FMLA abuse without running afoul of the law
• How to manage employee leave without risking claims of interference
• How to legally discharge employees who are on or just returned from FMLA leave

Mastering Tough FMLA Issues 11:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m. It’s one thing to understand FMLA rules, but another thing entirely to apply them in the real world. For example, intermittent leave seems pretty straightforward, but what about temporary light-duty positions and fluctuating work schedules? Reinstatement after leave? How do you handle an investigation by DOL? This session will show you:

• How to manage intermittent and reduced schedule leave
• How to handle leave duration
• How to calculate leave for fluctuating work schedules
• Rules on substitution of various types of paid leave for FMLA leave
• When employees have job reinstatement rights and when they do not
• Tips on how to effectively manage an FMLA investigation by the DOL

Networking Power Lunch (included with your registration) 12:15 p.m.–1:15 p.m.

All Together Now: Coordinating FMLA with ADA, Workers’ Comp, and State Family Leave Laws 1:15 p.m.–2:30 p.m. FMLA seems pretty comprehensive, but it’s not the only law that applies when employees need time off for their own serious health condition, to care for a family member, or for other reasons. You need to know when other laws create different obligations—and how their requirements work in tandem with FMLA. In this session we’ll cover:

• How FMLA and ADA interact
• Why FMLA serious health conditions are more likely to qualify as disabilities under the ADAAA
• When you should offer leave as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA, including a discussion of ADA leave cases and agency guidance
• How to offer accommodations other than leave without violating FMLA
• When you can require employees to take FMLA leave concurrently with workers’ comp leave
• Recent developments in state leave laws, including paid sick leave, family leave, pregnancy accommodation, and other trends

Break 2:30 p.m.– 2:45 p.m.

Part II—Intensive Workshop Addressing the Real-Life Application of FMLA Rules, DOL Regulations, and Court Rulings

Applying Your Knowledge 2:45 p.m.–4:00 p.m. In this highly interactive portion of the FMLA Master Class, your faculty of labor and employment attorneys will walk you through a series of scenarios illustrating real-life FMLA issues that stump even the most seasoned of HR practitioners. You’ll discuss case-studies with the lawyers and fellow attendees to determine the correct course of action, based on the facts and FMLA compliance principles.

Recent court rulings, long-standing precedent, DOL interpretations, opinion letters, and regulations—as well as the trainers’ own experiences in advising clients—are interwoven into this engaging afternoon workshop to provide actionable guidance on tricky FMLA challenges facing HR and employers in 2020. We’ll dive deep into:

1. Medical certifications and what to do when:

• Certification submitted by employee is not sufficient
• Employee does not return the certification
• Employee refuses to update the certification if need for leave changes
• Employee does not submit fitness-for-duty certification at end of leave

2. Intermittent leave

• Certification of need for intermittent leave
• Specific information on when leave is needed, expected frequency and duration
• What to do if an employee uses more leave than expected
• Abuse of intermittent leave (Mondays and Fridays, before and after holidays)

3. Reduced schedule leave

• Certification and specific information on reduced hours, expected duration
• Updating certification
• Tracking leave time

4. FMLA during holidays and shutdowns

• How to count FMLA leave during holidays
• Administering FMLA leave during extended plant or office shutdowns
• Determining whether an employee on FMLA leave during holidays is entitled to holiday pay

5. Addressing performance issues that arise prior to the request for leave

• What to do when an employee requests FMLA leave in the midst of the disciplinary process or just before discipline or termination steps are taken
• Addressing performance issues that arise during intermittent or reduced schedule leave
• Addressing performance issues discovered while an employee is on leave
• Reductions in force while employee is on FMLA leave

6. Return to work—what to do if an employee is:

• Not able to return to work at end of leave (ADA considerations)
• Cleared to return to work with restrictions
• Temporarily unable to perform essential functions
• Unable to perform essential functions in the long-term

Final Questions and Closing 4:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m. Have lingering questions about points raised during this intensive FMLA workshop or want to revisit a fundamental concept or two from earlier in the day? Take advantage of this opportunity to get clarification from the attorneys before you wrap up for the day.