Foreseeable and Unforeseeable Events

• The knee surgery that you are scheduled to have in three months is a foreseeable event. Your husband's sudden heart attack is not. You are required to give your employer a 30-day notice when requesting FMLA for a foreseeable event. If you do not have enough time to give a 30-day notice or if you are requesting leave for an unforeseeable event, you must provide the notice as soon as possible. With either event, your employer has up to five days to let you know that a certification is required. The clock starts ticking as soon as the employer makes the request. The turnaround time is the same for both a foreseeable event and an unforeseeable event.
  
  

FMLA Designation Denied

• Unless your employer provides more time, or if you have an acceptable reason for your delay, you must return the certification within 15 days. If you fail to provide the requested certification, your employer will designate your leave of absence as a non-FMLA leave. This means that you lose your rights to 12 weeks of job and group health insurance protection. Failure to provide medical recertification documentation when requested will allow your employer to rescind your FMLA designated leave. An employer can deny or rescind your FMLA leave if the certification that you provide is incomplete or ambiguous.
  
  

FMLA Designation Delayed

• Delaying the delivery of a fully completed medical certification document will delay your FMLA job protection rights. Unless you can prove that you made a good-faith effort to return the requested medical certification in a timely manner, your employer can designate any time that you take before returning the certification as non-FMLA leave. If you give your employer a 30-day notice for a foreseeable event, you do not have 15 days after your leave begins to return your medical certification. If you wait that long, you run the risk of the first 15 days of your leave being designated as non-FMLA.
  
  

Second and Third Opinions

• Your employer has the right to ask for a second opinion. The employer must pay the expense of a second opinion, and the employer can choose the health care provider. You have to return the second opinion certification within 15 days. Your employer can request a third opinion if the second certification conflicts with the first one. The employer must pay for the third opinion, and the employer and employee must agree on the health care provider. The third opinion certification is also due within 15 days. The employer uses the prevailing opinion to designate the leave as FMLA or non-FMLA.