The latest pitfalls of FMLA's 'sufficient notice' provision

FMLA law provides more than its fair share of headaches for HR managers. And figuring out when an employee has provided “sufficient notice” of the need for leave is definitely one of them. But here’s some help for sorting out this legal mess.
Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), employees don’t need to say “I need medical leave” to trigger your obligation to offer it to them. All they have to do is let you know they’ve got a serious medical issue that might qualify them to take leave. It’s up to employers to take the next step.
Sounds simple, if an employee comes to you and says, “I have a serious medical condition and need some time off” – but things are rarely that easy. Here’s some clarification on situations should trigger employers to take action.
Words
In one recent case, an employee sued, claiming he was denied time off that he needed to get treatment for a serious case of anxiety. However, he never asked for leave, and, the company said, no one ever knew that he needed it. At one point, he went to the HR manager and told her he was “feeling stressed out” and “didn’t know what to do.” The employee claimed that was enough to trigger an offer of leave.
But the judge disagreed. He said that feeling stressed out is a common workplace ailment, and the company had no way of knowing how serious the man’s case was (Cite: Lackman v. Recovery Services of New Jersey, Inc.).
So when do you need to offer leave? One key is getting more specific details about the medical condition or a need for treatment. In that example, if the employee had been more specific than saying he was “stressed out,” he may have had a case. Similar rulings have come down in cases where employees said they were feeling “depressed” (see: Rask v. Fresenius Medical Care North American).
In another case, though, the court ruled that when a man told his supervisor that he had to wear a heart monitor and would likely need to have heart surgery, that was enough to trigger action by the company (Cite: Sarnowski v. Air Brooke Limousine, Inc.).
Behavior
It isn’t just what employees say that triggers FMLA obligations. Behavior can do it, too. Take this case, for example:
A woman was fired after missing several days of work. One day, she saw a dog in the company parking lot, started screaming and cursing, and left the office abruptly. For the next few days, she called out sick. Then her sick days ran out and she started taking days off without approval. The company fired her.
But she thought she should have been offered FMLA. While she was out, she saw a doctor, was diagnosed with severe anxiety and given medication. The company didn’t know that, so it claimed it had no legal obligation.
The court ruled for the woman, claiming that her strange behavior, combined with the fact that she started calling out sick, was enough to let the company know that she had a serious medical condition (Cite: Stevenson v. Hyre Electric Company).
No easy way out
The rules about FMLA notification may be confusing, but one thing is clear: Employers can’t make their own rules that ask more from employees than the law does.
Some companies have tried to mandate that employees submit FMLA requests in writing before any leave is offered, but those policies haven’t held up in court. If the law doesn’t require it, neither can employers.