DOL Initiative Focuses on FMLA Compliance

The Department of Labor (DOL) is in the middle of an initiative designed to improve compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). As part of this initiative, the DOL is increasing the number of on-site investigations involving FMLA claims. However, the DOL is not just focused on “forced” compliance. The DOL also is trying to assist employers before any type of complaint is filed by issuing The Employer’s Guide to The Family and Medical Leave Act. This new guide not only gives a good overview of the FMLA, but also is “organized to correspond to the order of events” an employer might experience when faced with a request for FMLA leave. The DOL even includes a “roadmap” image of the FMLA process that any HR professional or lawyer could post next to his or her computer or on an office wall. The DOL also provides a downloadable PDF-version of the FMLA poster, which covered employers are required to display.

The FMLA is one of the hardest employment laws with which to comply simply because there are several hoops employers must jump through to be in technical compliance with the law. Use this guide and the roadmap to help ensure you do not get hit with a DOL administrative complaint, or worse, a lawsuit over an FMLA miscue.