FMLA - Help!

System

We have an employee who was out over three days and sought medical treatment for a recurring health problem. In the past he was not given FMLA papers. Long story. I sent our employee the proper paperwork and an explanatory letter, and he is furious. He said he wanted to just take vacation to cover the time missed and not use FMLA. If it is a qualifying event, and he supplies neither medical certification or a release to work statement, do I count it against his twelve weeks? We stated that we require these two things and explained it in our letter. Any advice?

HR in CA

What does your policy say about using vacation? Does it have to be preapproved? What has your practice been about allowing employees to use vacation with little or no notice? The reason I ask is that the employer, not the employee gets to designate the leave as FMLA. If your policy and practice has been to allow employees to use their vacation with little or no notice, then you may be stuck. However, if your policy states vacation must be preapproved, then your attendance policy would dictate and usually employees don't want the points and will provide the FMLA paperwork to avoid the penalty.

System

Thanks for your input. We do require preapproval of all vacation, although management isn't terribly strict about the amount of notice required, and "employees are encouraged" to give as much notice as possible. I plan to designate this as FMLA and hold him to our requirements. Thanks for the advice, and Happy Friday!