Length Of Leave Under Current Leave Laws

When an employee is simultaneously protected under FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Compensation laws, the length of the employee's absence from work is a concern that employers must consider. A leave of 12 weeks or less must be allowed for as long as the condition qualifies under the FMLA as a “serious health condition.“ Of course, under Workers' Compensation, the leave from work would continue to be appropriate for as long as the employee is unable to perform at least one of the essential functions of his or her job. If a light-duty assignment is identified and appropriate, it can be offered to the employee, but the employee is not obligated to accept it, due to FMLA leave entitlement. FMLA And ADA Training seminar Once the 12 weeks of FMLA has run its course (which should be properly designated in writing by the employer), the FMLA protections cease, but the protections under ADA may well continue. The employer then may be required to extend leave beyond the 12-week period as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. The length of this extended leave period would be dictated by the ADA's “undue hardship“ provision – i.e., the employer would only have to provide leave for a particular period beyond 12 weeks if the employer determines that this period of leave would cause an undue hardship. Of course, the employer can again offer light-duty work, if appropriate, beyond the 12-week FMLA period, and during this period the FMLA provisions would have expired, so the employee may not be able to refuse the light-duty work at this point. Also, if a reasonable accommodation was offered to the employee during the employee's 12-week FMLA entitlement period, but was rejected by the employee, this should be offered again, because the employee cannot use FMLA entitlement rights as a basis for rejecting the reasonable accommodation offer.