Connecticut Administrative Code › Title 31 - Labor › 51qq - The Family and Medical Leave Act › Section 31-51qq-37 - Under what circumstances may a covered employer refuse to provide FMLA leave or reinstatement to eligible employees?

Current through July 10, 2024
(a) If
			 an employee fails to give timely advance notice when the need for FMLA leave is
			 foreseeable with no reasonable excuse for the delay, the employer may delay the
			 taking of FMLA leave until thirty (30) days after the date the employee
			 provides notice to the employer of the need for FMLA leave.
(b) If an employee fails to provide in a
			 timely manner a requested medical certification to substantiate the need for
			 FMLA leave due to a serious health condition, an employer may deny continuation
			 of FMLA leave protection until an employee submits the certificate.
(c) If an employee fails to provide a
			 requested fitness-for-duty certification to return to work, an employer may
			 delay restoration until the employee submits the certificate.
(d) An employee has no greater right to
			 reinstatement or to other benefits and conditions of employment than if the
			 employee had been continuously employed during the FMLA leave period. Thus, an
			 employee's rights to continued leave and restoration cease under FMLA if and
			 when the employment relationship terminates (
e.g.
, layoff).
			 When an employee requests to return to work, the employer may deny the
			 employee's return to work only if it is able to show that the employee would
			 not otherwise have been employed if he or she had not taken FMLA leave.
(e) An employer may require an
			 employee on FMLA leave to report periodically on the employee's status and
			 intention to return to work. If an employee unequivocally advises the employer
			 either before or during the leave that the employee does not intend to return
			 to work, and the employment relationship is terminated, the employee's
			 entitlement to continued leave and restoration ceases. The employer may not
			 require an employee to take more leave than necessary to address the
			 circumstances for which leave was taken. If the employee is able to return to
			 work earlier than anticipated, the employee shall provide the employer two (2)
			 business days' notice where feasible; the employer is required to restore the
			 employee once such notice is given, or where such prior notice was not
			 feasible. The employer shall return the employee to work within two (2)
			 business days after such notice is provided, unless it is physically impossible
			 to do so, in which case it shall be as soon as practicable, as defined in
			 section
			 31-51qq-27(a)
			 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies. For example, if it would be
			 physically impossible to return a flight attendant scheduled to work a specific
			 flight or to return a laboratory employee to a sealed "clean room" during a
			 certain period of time, then the employer shall return the employee as soon as
			 practicable, as defined in section
			 31-51qq-27(a)
			 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.
(f) An employee who fraudulently obtains FMLA
			 leave from an employer is not protected by FMLA's job restoration
			 provision.
(g) If the employer has
			 a uniformly-applied policy governing outside or supplemental employment, such a
			 policy may continue to apply to an employee while on FMLA leave. An employer
			 That does not have such a policy may not deny benefits to an employee under
			 FMLA on this basis, unless the FMLA leave was fraudulently obtained as in
			 subsection (f) of this section.