• FREE RESOURCES
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
        • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for HR Professionals
          Employment Law
          Labor Law Posting Requirements: Everything You Need to Know
          Recruiting
          businesswoman selecting future employees on digital interfaces
          Recruiting Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
          Performance Management
          vector image of young female making star rating
          Performance Review Resources
          Employment Law
          Understanding Equal Employment Opportunity and the EEOC
          Recruiting
          Onboarding Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR

  • LOGIN
  • SIGN UP FREE

HR Morning

  • FREE RESOURCES
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
        • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for HR Professionals
          Employment Law
          Labor Law Posting Requirements: Everything You Need to Know
          Recruiting
          businesswoman selecting future employees on digital interfaces
          Recruiting Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
          Performance Management
          vector image of young female making star rating
          Performance Review Resources
          Employment Law
          Understanding Equal Employment Opportunity and the EEOC
          Recruiting
          Onboarding Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • Performance Management
  • HR Technology
  • More
    • Leadership & Strategy
    • Compensation
    • Staff Administration
    • Policy & Procedures
    • Wellness
    • Staff Departure
    • Employee Services
    • Work Location
    • HR Career & Self-Care
    • Health Care
    • Retirement Plans

What is 'enhanced' FMLA fitness-for-duty, and how can you use it?

FMLA fitness for duty certification
Christian Schappel
by Christian Schappel
October 28, 2016
3 minute read
  • SHARE ON

FMLA fitness for duty certification
If you’re concerned an employee won’t be able to take on his or her job responsibilities after FMLA leave, here’s a tool you can use to protect your company. 
It’s being referred to as an “enhanced” fitness-for-duty certification. What is it?
These certifications go beyond the standard fitness-for-duty certifications you’re used to.
Under a standard certification, a healthcare provider may simply state whether or not an employee is able to return to work.
“Enhanced” certifications dig deeper, asking healthcare providers to review the essential functions of employees’ jobs and put in writing whether or not employees are actually capable of performing those functions.
The caveats for using these certifications:

  • An employer must provide written notice to an employee of the requirement to complete the enhanced fitness-for-duty certification before returning to work.
  • This notice must include the essential functions to be reviewed by the provider.
  • This notice must be provided no later than the time of the FMLA designation notice.
  • An employer must have a uniformly-applied policy or practice that requires all similarly-situated employees (i.e., same occupation, same medical condition) who take FMLA leave to complete the fitness-for-duty certification process.

The certification process in practice

The enhanced certification process was recently brought to light in a recent lawsuit in which Erica Bento, a full-time community outreach worker, sued her employer, the City of Milford, CT. Bento claimed that the city interfered with her rights under the FMLA after the city delayed her ability to return to work until she completed an enhanced fitness-for-duty certification.
Bento returned from FMLA leave with a statement from her physician stating she was ready to return to work. But the city said the certification didn’t address Bento’s ability to perform the essential functions of her job. It then said Bento couldn’t return to work until the certification was completed.
Following the delay, Bento resigned from her position and filed the lawsuit. She said the city illegally delayed her reinstatement by asking her to complete a more detailed certification than her healthcare provider originally gave her.

Who was right?

A U.S. district court ruled the city was well within its rights to delay Bento’s reinstatement until she completed the enhanced fitness-for-duty certification process because it:

  • provided Bento with a letter stating that she needed to provider her supervisor with a note from her doctor that had to acknowledge she was able to safely perform the duties and responsibilities of her job prior to returning to work
  • provided that letter at the same time Bento’s FMLA leave request was approved, and
  • included a job description detailing the essential functions of Bento’s position with the letter.

The result: The court dismissed Bento’s lawsuit.
One thing to keep in mind that the court didn’t address in this case is the overlap between the FMLA and the ADA, and the potential need to provide additional leave time under the ADA to accommodate an employee’s disability.
Courts, as well as the EEOC, have been trying to hammer home the point that when an employee is unable to return to work after he or she’s exhausted FMLA leave, employers typically should consider entering the ADA’s interactive process to determine if more leave — or some other accommodation — would reasonably help the employee return to performing the essential functions of the job.
It’s likely that the intersection of the FMLA and the ADA wasn’t an issue in this case because it appeared the City of Milford was willing to grant Bento more time to complete the certification.
Cite: Bento v. City of Milford

Get the latest from HRMorning in your inbox PLUS immediately access 10 FREE HR guides.

I WANT MY FREE GUIDES

Keep Up To Date with the Latest HR News

With HRMorning arriving in your inbox, you will never miss critical stories on labor laws, benefits, retention and onboarding strategies.

Sign up for a free HRMorning membership and get our newsletter!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
HR Morning Logo
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linked In
  • ABOUT HRMORNING
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • WRITE FOR US
  • CONTACT
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • HR Technology
  • Performance Management
  • Leadership & Strategy
  • Compensation & Payroll
  • Policy & Culture
  • Staff Administration
  • Wellness & Safety
  • Staff Departure
  • Employee Services
  • Work Location
  • HR Career & Self-Care

HRMorning, part of the SuccessFuel Network, provides the latest HR and employment law news for HR professionals in the trenches of small-to-medium-sized businesses. Rather than simply regurgitating the day’s headlines, HRMorning delivers actionable insights, helping HR execs understand what HR trends mean to their business.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Copyright © 2021 SuccessFuel

WELCOME BACK!

Enter your username and password below to log in

Forget Your Username or Password?

Reset Password

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Log In

During your free trial, you can cancel at any time with a single click on your “Account” page.  It’s that easy.

Why do we need your credit card for a free trial?

We ask for your credit card to allow your subscription to continue should you decide to keep your membership beyond the free trial period.  This prevents any interruption of content access.

Your card will not be charged at any point during your 21 day free trial
and you may cancel at any time during your free trial.

preloader