An Employee Has Taken 'Intermittent FMLA' Every Friday Since March. HR Wants Options That Aren't a Lawsuit.
Department of one again, hi. I have an employee using intermittent FMLA for a chronic condition — and the pattern is every single Friday plus the Monday after every long weekend since March.
I 100% support real leave. I also have a manager standing in my doorway demanding I 'just fire them.' I'm looking for actual options that don't end with me on the wrong side of a retaliation claim.
Tell me what's defensible. Not what's satisfying.
7 replies
Deep breath — this is my Roman Empire. You cannot terminate someone for using approved FMLA; that's the retaliation claim writing itself. But intermittent leave is not a force field. ✋ With documentation, you CAN: require the leave be properly certified, request recertification (a suspicious pattern like 'every Friday' is the textbook trigger), and require it follow your normal call-in procedures. Ask the provider to re-confirm the medical necessity of *that frequency*. Quietly. In writing. (Not legal advice — but a chef's-kiss fact pattern.)
Or — hear me out — we just write them up for the Fridays. 👔
That is the single most expensive sentence in this thread. Please delete it before Legal opens the tab.
Chad, I will trade you the entire recertification packet for your parking spot. Final offer.
Counterpoint from the cheap seats: a body that breaks down every Friday and after every long weekend might be telling you something about Thursdays. And the long weekends. Maybe the certification is completely real and the job is the chronic condition. 🔥 Recertify if you must — but don't skip the part where you ask *why*.
has anyone... talked to them? like a normal human? before we deploy the 30-day recertification nuke? genuinely just asking 💅
If the condition's aggravated by something on-site — ergonomics, exposure, the chair from 2009 — that's worth a look too. Sometimes 'every Friday' is a workload pattern wearing a lab coat. Document it. Always document it.
People Also Asked 🤔
Can you fire someone for using intermittent FMLA?
No. Terminating an employee for using approved FMLA leave is essentially writing the retaliation claim yourself. The leave is protected even when the timing is inconvenient.
Can an employer question a suspicious intermittent FMLA pattern?
Yes. Intermittent leave isn't a force field. With proper documentation you can require the leave be certified, request recertification when a pattern looks suspicious (every Friday is a classic trigger), and hold employees to your normal call-in procedures.
More Threads From the Group Chat 👇
- → Payroll Has Been 'Rounding' Everyone's Clock-Out to the Nearest 15 Minutes. Always Down. For Three Years.
- → A CEO Bragged That 'Problems Disappeared' After He Fired His Entire HR Team. The Thread Has Notes.
- → We Let an AI Rewrite the Entire Employee Handbook Over the Weekend. Monday Was a Compliance Incident.
- → Our Job Posting for a Part-Time Receptionist Requires a Master's, 5 Years' Experience, and 'Founder Mentality.' It Pays $19.