Employee Taking Unapproved Leave: How Should We Handle Suspected FMLA Misuse?

Dear Seniors,

One of our employees has taken leave without prior notice and later sent us an email directly to the Office Management (rather than to his reporting boss) stating a leave request for 2 months on medical grounds. We are aware that he was not suffering from any serious issue, and management suspects that he's using this to take a break from us and plans to get relieved later. We are ready to offer and accept FMLA leaves for serious and genuine cases but not for employees who misuse that.

Request for Supporting Medical Documents

Now, they have asked me to respond to his email, asking for some supporting medical documents or any other evidence. Kindly guide me on the terms that we should use and follow.

Thanks,

Divya

Handling Employee Resignation During Medical Leave

If the employee resigned during his medical leave, you can stop his full and final settlement, and all the relieving documents should also not be handed over. "It is totally unethical for any employee to resign during a sick period."

Regards

Kindly advise on what papers could be requested to validate his illness. We are unsure whether he might resign or continue. Abruptly, he has sent an email stating he wants two months' leave to rest due to medical illness and is also not responding to our calls.

Dear Divi,

You can reply to the email stating that since the requested leave duration is around a month or more for medical reasons, you would be willing to cooperate in this situation. Next, request a medical certificate from a doctor. As the leave is quite long, also mention that you assume the person will be hospitalized and will require rest. Explain that to ensure a smooth return and approval of leave, the following documents are required to be submitted:

1. Medical certificate from the doctor
2. Hospital bills
3. Letter from the doctor

Inform the person that if they are unable to come to the office to submit the documents, they can scan the copies and email them as well as send the photocopies via courier.

Hope this information helps.

Thank you, Ankita. In fact, this employee was not hospitalized with a serious illness. Due to the severity of his injuries, he wanted to rest based on the doctor's advice. Since he was not responding to our calls, our suspicion was raised. Do let me know if this can be handled appropriately. It is as simple as that. We are ready to offer leave benefits if it is a genuine case; otherwise, we do not want to encourage such unethical behavior.

Thanks, Ankita. In fact, this employee was not hospitalized with a serious illness. Due to the severity of his injuries, he wanted to take rest based on the doctor's advice. Since he was not responding to our calls, our suspicion was raised. Do let me know if this can be handled appropriately.

It is as simple as that; we are ready to offer leave benefits if it is a genuine case, else we do not want to encourage such an unethical employee.

Steps to Verify Medical Leave

Ask the person to scan and send you the copy of the medical certificate from the said doctor who advises rest for a specific period. Usually, medical certificates are given on letterheads. Once you receive the scanned copy, you can call the doctor and verify if the case was genuine or not and how long it would take to recover.

Again, as you mentioned, he has some injuries and needs time to recover from those. A month's long leave means the injuries must be very deep. I had an office colleague who met with an accident but resumed duty in 15 days. So for a month's long leave, the doctor should surely know what the case is.

Conditions for Leave Approval

But in any case, you should be clear in mentioning that the leaves will be sanctioned only if the said documents are submitted (Doctor's certificate on letterhead) and if the case is genuine.

In the absence of the document, it is not possible to override the rules of the company and grant you leaves. At the most, you can allow him the leaves, but those will be leave without pay.

Hope this clarifies your doubts.

Is there any specific declaration form or format that can be given to the employee for attestation by their healthcare provider or doctor? This would be even more professional, wouldn't it?

Getting a predefined format attested by the doctor sounds good, but the issue is, we really do not know the cause of the break. Now, if we are giving a draft to the employee and asking him to get it attested by his doctor, the doctor will surely remember this unusual case and hence will give you a reply. Also, it is possible that the nurse or assistant gives you the stamp and goes to the doctor to sign.

When the doctor gives you a handwritten or even printed letter that advises him to rest from ____ to ____, he will also mention the reason for the illness or leave. The details will help us verify the genuineness. Again, as I said, even to reduce the doubt of whether or not the certificate is genuinely obtained, we can always call the doctor a few days later and ask about the case history of the person.

Nonetheless, since I do not have experience handling the ready-made draft as you suggested (I do not know if I interpreted you correctly, kindly bear my ignorance), I think it would help if seniors can endorse the idea.

Regards,

If you suspect that an employee is feigning illness, ask them which hospital they are in, or conduct a surprise visit to the hospital or their home. This way, you can assess the situation. One of our companies follows this practice. The condition is that if the employee is local, you can take these steps.

Thank you.

Employee Leave Request on Medical Grounds

The situation is clear that this employee was not suffering from a severe illness and had not been hospitalized. Instead, he abruptly sent an email stating that he needs leave for two months as the doctor prescribed him to rest for his health problem.

Dear Seniors, kindly advise on how to proceed further from the management side.

Regards,
[Name]

Dear Seniors, we tried contacting this employee, but he has not answered our calls. Management has decided to terminate him from the service. Kindly advise whether a termination letter can be issued in this case. Your early response would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Divya