EE dancing around FMLA issue

AnneLa

I have an employee who is not cooperating in returning the FMLA paperwork that was sent to her, both certified and first class. She can not be reached days by phone, and will return a call to HR on a Saturday when no one is here. She claims to be in between addresses and can not be reached by mail. She has been on uncertified LOA for several weeks now, and I would like to terminate. She also does not have a "reason" to be out on LOA, just a lot of speculation that she may need FMLA. Everything with this employee is sketchy at best. Can I terminate for job abandonment?

Don D

IF you or your paperwork made it clear to her that she had a specific number of days to return the paperwork, I would terminate as an attendance issue.

Balloonman

Dandy Don is right. If paperwork is in order I would terminate............asap!
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

SDDCHR

If she is eligible for FMLA and hasn't returned the paperwork to you, and you know it is a qualifying event, go ahead and start her on FMLA and send her a letter advising her of the start date.

AnneLa

UPDATE: the employee called HR at 5:30 last night - she thought we weren't here. When we answered, she didn't say a word - we knew it was her becasue we've dialed her number so many times. We redialed the number and left a message to say that this would be our last attempt at getting in touch with her, and that if we did not receive some type of medical certification regarding her absence, we would terminate employment. We do not know of any legitimate FMLA reason for her to be out - we'll be sending her a termination notice this afternoon. Thank you all for your advise.

LindaS

SCCDHR - I have to disagree with your recommendation. By following what you are suggesting you are basically saying to the employee, it's okay for you not to follow policies and procedures and we will maintain your position anyway. I have to agree with Don and Balloonman, in absence of any legitimate reason for the employee to not have turned in the paperwork, treat it as an attendance issue and follow the policies accordingly. FMLA does not grant an employee the right to toss company policies out the window and do as they want.