Legal Question in Medical Leave in Ohio

Re: Refusal to return to work

Assuming the FMLA applies (e.g., you are a qualified employee and your employer has at least 50 employees), then you are entitled to 12 weeks/480 hours of leave per 12-month period. The 12 weeks need not be taken all at once and can be taken intermittently such as on a reduced schedule. Your employer is also prohibited from requiring you to take more FMLA leave than necessary, which it seems to be doing by not permitting you to work 4-hour days. Therefore, your employer is required to allow you to return to work for 4 hours a day given that you have not exhausted the 12 weeks of leave. The employer has 2 business days to return you to work once provided notice that you are medically authorized to return on a reduced schedule. The employer may, however, place you in an alternative position while working a reduced schedule. However, if your employer counts the 4 hours per day that you could be working (but are not) against the 12 week entitlement, that may be yet another FMLA violation.

Additionally, by requiring you to be �100 percent�, the employer may be deemed as perceiving and treating you as disabled even if you are not. Just as employers are prohibited from discriminating against employees on the basis of an actual disability under federal and state discrimination laws, they are prohibited from discriminating against employees on the basis of a perceived disability.

As for your options, you can: (1) contact an employment attorney in your area (strongly recommended); (2) put the employer on notice (preferably in writing) that it is violating your FMLA rights based on the foregoing, demand the wages you would have earned but for the employer�s refusal to allow you to return to work for 4 hours per day, demand that you be returned to work immediately in accordance with your medical restrictions, and demand that the hours you would be working but for its FMLA violations not be designated as FMLA leave; (3) file a complaint for the FMLA violations with the U.S. Department of Labor (it�s free and no attorney is necessary); and/or (4) file a charge with the Equal Opportunity Commission for discrimination based on a perceived disability (also free and no attorney needed).

The information contained herein is for informational purposes only; it is not to be construed as legal advice; and it is not intended to and does not create an attorney-client relationship.