Can you be forced to request FMLA? Iowa

[Xpectations]

I work for state government and my boss thinks that if at any time he/she suspects a FMLA qualifying event is happening, that he/she can hand an employee a form to be completed requesting FMLA.

Can an employer (Iowa state gov) MAKE you request FMLA if you do not want to?

[cbg]

I'll have to let someone else answer for the state as employer, since sometimes it's slightly different.

For private employers, they not only can, they must. If the employer has reason to believe that an absence might qualify for FMLA, they are required by law to apply FMLA protections until there is valid reason to believe that it does not. The employee does not get to choose to hold their FMLA for future use, or opt not to take FMLA because they don't want to have to take unpaid time.

[Xpectations]

Thanks!

My assumption was that FMLA was a privilege not "mandated".

My HR background tells me that the less an employee discloses medically related information, the better for the company/agency if the employee employer relationship goes sour so this seemed contradictory.

I always want to learn new things. Your quick reply is appreciated.

[rjc]

Are you a union member?

[Xpectations]

Yes! IUP, but the wording is not very clear on FMLA and "mandating".

Even when you take a sick day, you have to give them some kind of reason (you even have to put it on your time card under "reason", just seems odd to me but they say that it is to determine if it is actually sick leave or FMLA time. Just seems freaky to me.

[Pattymd]

With some limited exceptions, one day off sick does not an FMLA-qualifying event make.

I work for a large city government, and we hand out FMLA forms if 1) the employee is out for more than 3 days; 2) the employee is undergoing testing to get a diagnosis; 3) any other reason we believe MIGHT be FMLA-qualifying.

[Xpectations]

This actually became an issue when I called in sick one day, on the day the time cards were to be approved I was told by my co-worker (since my boss happened to be out that day) that I needed to give a specific reason on my leave request I have to email (and due to the boss being out, she was the one to approve or deny my request) "I was feeling ill was not good enough". This made me wonder just how many people in my office would have access to information. We have a secretary that is considered "confidential approver" of time cards but I don't agree as I hear her on the phone quite often speaking of things she shouldn't.

So I started emailing our HR person and I have still not received a good response as to how much information I need to give in any situation (sick day due to stomach flu or a doctor appointment to follow up on lab work). I think to ask why someone is going to the doctor is crossing the line. That is just my take on it.

Again, thanks for the replies, this is helping.

[cbg]

The employer is entitled to enough information to determine if FMLA may be required. How much information that will be is not necessarily the same in all situations. There are also ADA considerations.

Since the advent of the most recent HIPAA law, a lot of people have a mistaken idea as to what information is protected. With very limited exceptions (most if not all of them when the employer is itself a health care facility or other HIPAA-mandated entity), in employment situations the only medical information that is protected under HIPAA is what the employer may learn from its self-insured health insurance plan. Information about absences is not PHI.