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It’s no secret that state and local legislatures are busy filling in the blanks left by Congress when it comes to offering employees time off from work. States, for example, have stepped in to offer paid time off for common worker needs like family illness, bereavement and expanding families. Those state laws largely fill in the hole that the Family and Medical Leave Act’s unpaid leave provisions created.

How long after I’ve turned down an FMLA request or terminated someone after they return from FMLA leave do I have to worry about a retaliation lawsuit? I know employees have to file an EEOC complaint pretty quickly if they want to sue for discrimination under Title VII, but what’s the FMLA rule?

We are planning a layoff due to economic reasons. We have an employee on FMLA leave. He’s on the layoff list. How do we make sure we’re not interfering with his FMLA rights?

An employee just told me that their parent who lives in another country has a serious health condition, so they want to take FMLA leave to travel there and care for the parent. Can the employee apply for FMLA leave before heading overseas, or must he travel overseas using other leave and apply from there?

If employees want more leave and aren’t going to return as scheduled, it’s their obligation to request more leave. They can’t not show for that first post-leave shift and demand after the fact to take more FMLA leave.

I have an employee who has two serious health conditions that qualify them for intermittent leave, and he has two separate certifications. Does each condition qualify him for a full 12 weeks or 480 hours of FMLA leave during the year?

We are located in California and are potentially interested in participating in the Department of Labor’s PAID program to fix some innocent errors. Does our location impact our decision?

Andrew Rogers, the Wage and Hour Division administrator, said the 2024 final regs were too restrictive and that the 2026 proposed regs adhere more faithfully to courts’ interpretations of the FLSA. But he also predicted that more workers would be classified as independent contractors if the proposed regs are finalized.

Will this be the year that a federal law will require employers to provide some form of paid leave for workers? It’s too early to tell for certain, but there’s an increasing chance it might happen during the off-year midterm elections as pressure mounts on so-called affordability issues.

The Biden administration nixed the program largely because it allowed employers to avoid penalties and the doubling of unpaid wages the FLSA allows the DOL to assess for violations if only they confessed to their mistakes and told the DOL. PAID is now back and open to employers who want to resolve FLSA problems as well as FMLA issues.