FMLA

Whatever

If an employee is out on leave. The doctor will provide dates of treatment but no diagnosis because disease is confidential. Therefore, person will not see our doctor. Can I deny leave? Can I terminate from employment?

LFernandes

Did you use the DOL's form WH-380 as the Medical Certification Form? Section 825.307 of the regs states that "(a) if an employee submits a complete certification signed by the health care provider, the employer may not request additional information from the employee's health care provider. However, a health care provider representing the employer may contact the employee's health care provider, with the employee's permission, for purposes of clarification and authenticity of the medical certification."

I wouldn't deny leave or terminate employment since this person did provide a medical certification even though it didn't fully disclose the medical reason. If you're really not comfortable with the medical certification the employee provided, I would obtain the employee's permission and have your company doctor contact his health care provider.

My thoughts are if an employee is under continuous treatment from a doctor, the doctor fills out the Certification Form and signs it, and they are FMLA eligible, grant them the leave. It's not worth the headache and possible lawsuit. If the employee exhausts his or her 12 weeks and can't return to work, then you can end their employment with you. Just be sure that you have everything documented. Good luck.