12 Sep Are Your Employees Abusing FMLA?
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ensures workers paid leave for certain medical conditions or family situations, such as childbirth. However, many employees take advantage of the act by deceptively taking an extended vacation. Hiring a private investigator to remove or confirm any suspicion regarding your employees’ use of FMLA.
A private investigator provides your business with a legal inspection of the whereabouts of any employee. Private investigators know the law and follow it, assuring both parties remain protected against lawsuits. Do not try to do the job yourself. If the employee in question catches you, a coworker or another recognizable face, this compromises your work relationship — often resulting in legal action taken by the employee.
But when should you hire a private investigator? Knowing the signs of FMLA abuse can help you decide whether or not you need to hire a PI to discover the truth.
When to be Suspicious of FMLA Abuse
FMLA covers 12 weeks of paid leave per year — taken all at once or in increments. An employer should be skeptical if an employee repeatedly uses their paid leave for extended weekends. Offenders also tend to have longer or more frequent absences than the medical certification estimates. Sightings of the employee by coworkers in places they wouldn’t normally be if they were medically ill, such as an amusement park or concert, indicate a gross exaggeration or lie by the employee.
Monitoring Social Media websites such as Facebook also serve as helpful tools to determine whether a worker is out for an extended vacation. Pictures or video of the employee on vacation or at the bar show a different story than the one they told you. But your employees are smart with their privacy controls and are locking down so that outsiders can’t see what they post.
For more information about whether your employees are abusing FMLA from the experts at Grand Slam Investigations, please contact us here or call us directly at 231.359.1555.