Patent ID: 7373306

Claim:
A method for processing and tracking requests for leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) using a web-based computer system configured with at least one server which includes an employee FMLA database, the system including a plurality of client systems networked to the at least one server, said method comprising the steps of: displaying on a first client system at least one web page including a FMLA leave request form; prompting a requester to enter request data directly into the FMLA leave request form, the requester including at least one of an employee and a representative of the employee, the request data including information relating to a reason for a FMLA leave request, a name of the employee and a name of an employer, wherein the first client system is associated with the requester; automatically uploading the FMLA leave request form with the request data from the first client system to the server, wherein the server is associated with the employer; determining, at the server, whether the employee is eligible to receive a conditional approval of the FMLA leave request form; automatically downloading the conditional approval from the server to the first client system for viewing by the requester; automatically downloading the conditional approval and a medical certification form to a second client system associated with a medical provider identified by the requester; displaying on the second client system at least one web page including the conditional approval and the medical certification form; prompting the medical provider to enter medical data directly into the medical certification form displayed on the second client system, the medical data including a recommendation relating to the reason for the FMLA leave request; entering the medical data including the recommendation relating to the reason for the FMLA leave request directly into the medical certification form by the medical provider via the second client system; automatically uploading a completed medical certification form from the second client system to the server for storage in the FMLA database; comparing, at the server, the request data entered by the requester to the medical data entered by the medical provider, and determining whether the reason provided by the requester for the FMLA leave request corresponds with the recommendation provided by the medical provider; and transmitting from the server a final approval or disapproval to the requester at the first client system after performing the data comparison at the server.