ASTHMA - FMLA??

hrmania

Should asthma be considered a serious health condition? Employee out 1-2 days every month, but doesn't always say it's asthma, complains of congestion, respiratory, bronchitis, sinus etc.
Not sure how to separate some of these things from the asthma problem, but wanted to start with defining asthma in relation to FMLA. Thanks for any help!

LindaS

Has this person completed FMLA paperwork? If not, that would be the place to start. Once that is completed, review what the physician wrote and if you need additional information, require the EE to get it.

Once you have the necessary information, if the condition qualifies then approve accordingly. In the letter I send to EEs when they are approved for intermittent leave it clearly states that it is their responsibility to notify the company of any FMLA qualifying absences. If they do not do this, their absences are counted toward our Attendance policy. It is THEIR responsibility, not ours.

Good Luck

davids

Asthma can be an FMLA-qualifying condition. It is episodic which, unfortunately, results in the need for intermittent leave. However, once you have medical certification and designate the condition as FMLA, it is the employee's responsibility to inform you when s/he calls in, that the absence is due to the FMLA event. I counsel supervisors to ask the direct question: "Is this absence for your FMLA certified condition?" If the employee says "no" (and some actually do) then we don't count it as an FMLA leave.