Leaves of Absence and Medical Issues: What Employers Need To Know Before Problems Escalate

Short summary

Employers must comply with overlapping FMLA (12 weeks unpaid leave for qualifying conditions) and ADA (reasonable accommodations for disabilities) requirements to avoid legal exposure. The ADA mandates a good-faith interactive process to determine accommodations, which begins even when employees don't use formal legal language. Common mistakes include inconsistent policy application and failing to proactively initiate accommodation discussions.

• •FMLA applies to 50+ employee firms; ADA to 15+ — overlapping requirements need joint analysis
• •Employers must start the interactive accommodation process based on any indication of medical need, not formal requests
• •Training supervisors to recognize unstated accommodation requests prevents costly compliance failures

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