Legal Question in Medical Leave in California

Late notice by Employer of FMLA denial

My employer denied me FMLA 18 days after I took a medical

absence. I notified my employer by fax on March 26th that I

was going out on medical leave as of March 27th for a period

of at least 9 days. They sent FMLA forms out the next day

March 27th. Notified them again on April 4th that my medical

absence had been extended for 14 more days. They did not

advise me that I did not qualify for FMLA until April 12th.

That same letter indicated that they had concelled all

medical coverage and place me on a unpaid medical leave.

What is their time frame for notifying me that I do not

qualify? I thought that since I qualified already in January

and took 33 days of 90 available for hospitalization that I

still had 57 days left. We are on a rolling 12 month method.

My employer is saying that I have to requalify from April

2001 to March 31, 2002. If that is true, they are using the

FMLA time of 33 days (192 scheduled hours) I took in Jan/Feb

against me in calculating a new 12 month period.If you

subtract the 33 days I missed in Jan/Feb which was FMLA(192

hours) it leaves me short of 1250 hours by 170hours. Is this

the proper way to calculate on a rolling 12 months?


Asked on 4/22/02, 9:02 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Kirschbaum Law Offices of Michael R. Kirschbaum

Re: Late notice by Employer of FMLA denial

Yes, they can do that. The 12 month period does not have to start on January 1. This demonstrates the danger of assuming you qualify without verifying it first. There is no time period within which the employer must confirm or deny your qualification. The burden is on you to take time off under FMLA correctly.

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Answered on 4/24/02, 12:38 pm


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