Excerpted from the executive report: The New FMLA Rules: What Employers Need to Know Now
The new FMLA rules give employers more leeway in what they ask for when seeking certification of a serious medical condition. The paperwork can now include the physician's area of specialization, specific facts pertinent to the employee's condition, and whether intermittent or other leave is medically necessary.
The new regs include an optional form, WH-380E: New Certification of Health Care Provider for Employee's Serious Health Condition, which is for the employers use.
Under the old rules, employers couldn't check directly with employees' medical providers when further information was needed to determine FMLA leave eligibility. Companies could ask for an opinion from another healthcare professional - but the firm had to pick up the tab.
The new regs allow employers - with authorization from the employee - to contact the worker's physician directly if clarification or authentication is needed.
But there's a catch: The individual contacting the doctor has to be one of the following:
- a health care professional
- a Human Resources staffer
- a leave administrator, or
- a member of upper management.
The rules expressly prevent the employee's direct
supervisor from making contact with the worker's medical provider.
The new FMLA rules, which take effect Jan. 16, 2009, make some significant changes. And employers must make those changes to be in compliance. Get all the details in the executive report: The New FMLA Rules: What Employers Need to Know Now
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