The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled recently that an employer can unlawfully interfere with an employee’s rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) by merely discouraging the person from requesting leave, regardless of whether the request is actually denied. Although the ruling doesn’t break any new legal ground – it is consistent with the position of the U.S. Labor Department (DOL), which enforces the FMLA, and a number of federal courts that have given an FMLA interference claim a broad reading – it nevertheless serves as a timely reminder that managers and supervisors need to understand the legal risk of discouraging an employee from requesting FMLA leave.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.