Breaking FMLA News

By Larry Feheley

In an important FMLA ruling for employers, a divided U.S. Supreme Court yesterday (March 19, 2002) ruled that a very restrictive Department of Labor Regulation is invalid. The Regulation provided that an employee's FMLA allotment of 12 weeks leave did not begin to run until the employer gave notice to the employee that the time off would be counted as FMLA leave. Under the Department of Labor view, an employee who was incapacitated and unable to work for over 12 weeks, but who was not given a formal FMLA notice by his employer, would still be eligible for an additional 12 weeks of FMLA leave.

The Supreme Court, by a narrow 5-4 margin, ruled that the Regulation was invalid and unenforceable. As to the notice requirement, the Court held that an employee would have to demonstrate that they were actually harmed by the employer's failure to give the notice. In the case of an employee who is physically unable to work for more than 12 weeks, this will be difficult because the employee would have been unable to return to work within the 12 weeks even if he had been given the notice. On the other hand, the notice requirement may still be an important factor where the employee could make a decision whether or not to return to work (such as when caring for a sick relative) and remained off work because he was arguably unaware that his FMLA time was being utilized and depleted.

The case before the Supreme Court was Ragsdale v. Wolverine Worldwide, Inc.