Connecticut Administrative Code › Title 31 - Labor › 51qq - The Family and Medical Leave Act › Section 31-51qq-35 - Under what circumstances may an employer require that an employee submit a "fitness-for-duty" certification that the employee is able to return to work?

Current through July 10, 2024
(a) As a condition
			 of restoring an employee whose FMLA leave was occasioned by the employee's own
			 serious health condition that made the employee unable to perform the
			 employee's job, an employer may have a uniformly-applied policy or practice
			 that requires all similarly-situated employees, such as employees with the same
			 occupation or same serious health condition, who take FMLA leave for such
			 conditions to obtain and present certification from the employee's health care
			 provider that the employee is able to resume work.
(b) If other provisions of State or local
			 law, or the terms of a collective bargaining agreement, govern an employee's
			 return to work, those provisions shall be applied. Similarly, requirements
			 under the ADA that any return-to-work physical be job-related and consistent
			 with business necessity apply.
(c)
			 An employer may seek a fitness-for-duty certification only with regard to the
			 particular health condition that caused the employee's need for FMLA leave. The
			 certification itself need only be a simple statement of an employee's ability
			 to return to work; however, the employer may provide the employee a list of the
			 employee's essential job functions and may require the employee to provide the
			 list to the health care provider in making the fitness-for-duty determination.
			 the employer may contact the employee's health care provider, for purposes of
			 seeking authentication, as defined in section
			 31-51qq-32(a)(1)
			 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, the employee's
			 fitness-for-duty certification. The employer shall use a health care provider,
			 a human resources professional, a leave administrator, or a management official
			 to make such contact. The employee's direct supervisor shall not contact the
			 employee's health care provider under any circumstances. The employer may also
			 contact the employee's health care provider, with the employee's permission,
			 for purposes of seeking clarification, as defined in section
			 31-51qq-32(a)(2)
			 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, of the fitness-for-duty
			 certification. No additional information may be acquired, and clarification, as
			 defined in section
			 31-51qq-32(a)(2)
			 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, may be requested only for the
			 serious health condition for which FMLA leave was taken. The employer may not
			 delay the employee's return to work while contact with the health care provider
			 is being made.
(d) The employee
			 shall pay any costs associated with obtaining the fitness-for-duty
			 certification, and the employee is not entitled to be paid for the time or
			 travel costs involved.
(e) The
			 designation notice required in section
			 31-51qq-26
			 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies shall advise the employee if
			 the employer will require A fitness-for-duty certification to return to work.
			 If the employer has a handbook explaining employment policies and benefits, the
			 handbook shall explain the employer's general policy regarding any requirement
			 for fitness-for-duty certification to return to work. No second or third
			 opinions on a fitness-for-duty certification may be required.
(f) An employer may delay restoration to
			 employment until an employee submits a required fitness-for-duty certification
			 unless the employer has failed to provide the designation notice required in
			 section
			 31-51qq-26
			 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.
(g) An employer is not entitled to a
			 fitness-for-duty certification when the employee takes intermittent leave or
			 reduced schedule leave.
(h) If
			 State or local law or the terms of a collective bargaining agreement govern an
			 employee's return to work, those provisions shall be applied. If an employee's
			 serious health condition may also be a disability within the meaning of the ADA
			 or FEPA, the FMLA does not prevent the employer from following the procedures
			 for requesting medical information under the ADA or FEPA.