Devoted to Corporate Attorneys, Corporate Lawyers, and Corporate Counsel

The following is not meant to be legal advice.

On October 20, 2007, Keith Chrestionson and Alex Hernaez of Kauff McClain & McGuire LLP gave a presentation in San Francisco, CA on leave laws to human resource professionals.

For intermittent leave, the employer should ask the doctor in a medical certification to provide a cut off period on when the leave should stop.  When the doctor does not know how long the condition will take to heal or go away, the doctor should put an estimated time.  The fixed reasonable period of time is needed in order for the employer to ask for a re-certification.

If the employee requests particular days off, there needs to be a medical reason such as the doctor only being available at a certain day or time.  The time off cannot be based on the employee’s convenience.  The employer is able to hire a temp when the employee is on leave, but the employer needs to give the employee the job back when the employee returns.

The employer cannot require a certification each time the employee gets time off.  The certification needs to last for the time the doctor provides as necessary.