FMLA-Insomnia

lmccoy

I need your opinons on FMLA for insomnia. The physcian certified the employee for intermitent FMLA due to insomnia under the definition of "continuing treatment" by a health care provider. The employee has seen the physician three or four times over the past two weeks and is taking prescription medication. Our problem is that this "medical condition" only affects the employee on Friday. Is there any additional infomration I can ask the physician to determine if a schedule change would be a reasonable solution for this employee, or do I just have to accept the employee doesn't sleep on Thursday nights and has to be out on Friday? Your thoughts are appreciated.

Janet

I'd be getting a second opinion PDQ.

Rockie

I agree a second opinion would be in order. This employee evidently has gotten his doctor to sign off on this. The doctor may not even realize that this is only a Friday "condition". More often than not, a nurse signs off on these FMLA forms anyway.

Just advise the employee that there seems to be something really strange about his insomnia and you would like to get a second opinion on this.

stilldazed

Remember that you can ask for a treatment plan. At a seminar I attended recently, an attorney presentor advised employers to get the employee to sign a HIPAA-compliant authorization for medical information for FMLA situations. With an authorization (according to the presentation) employers can make inquiries to or have conversations with medical providers. That might be an option for you as well. Of course, the the EE is not willing to sign, or if the provider is not willing to honor the authorization, you will probably not know anymore than you know right now. I think you owe it to your employee to discuss the situation directly.