Make sure you’re fit to administer FMLA fitness-for-duty certification requirements

Maybe you’ve experienced this: An employee has a serious health condition, you provide the required Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) paperwork, and the certification form either comes back not fully filled out or so vague that you’re unable to figure out whether a serious health condition even exists. In these circumstances, FMLA regulations spell out exactly what steps employers can take to address these shortcomings: The employer must give the employee written notice of the missing or insufficient information and an opportunity provide it.

Or maybe you’ve experienced this: You receive a complete certification form, but you have good reason to doubt its validity. For example, maybe the certification states the employee can’t perform essential functions that she has been and continues to perform. Again, in these circumstances, comprehensive FMLA regulations tell us what to do next, which is to request a second opinion (and maybe even a third).

And, perhaps, you’ve experienced this: An employee with a significant serious health condition and goes out on extensive FMLA leave. Despite the significance of the issue, you receive a minimal return-to-work notification from her health care provider, stating only that she has been fully released to work.

Fitness-for-duty certification process