An employee missed the 15-day FMLA certification deadline. What now?

Most employers covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ask employees to support their need for leave with a certification – even though certifications aren’t required. Employers may not, however, ask that employees provide a certification when the leave is strictly for bonding with a healthy child.

Timeline

An employee must get a completed certification to their employer within 15 calendar days after the employer's request, unless circumstances don’t allow for it despite the employee's diligent, good faith efforts. The employer may give an employee more than 15 calendar days to return the requested certification.

The 15-day timeline doesn’t begin until the employee has received the certification request. That’s when the “clock” starts ticking.

When requesting a certification, employers must advise the employee of potential consequences if the employee fails to provide one. This information is in the eligibility/rights & responsibilities notice, and employers may highlight it.

No certification, no FMLA?

After the 15-day window closes, if the employee fails to provide a complete and sufficient certification, or fails to provide any certification with no justification, typically the employer may deny the FMLA leave.

The employee’s job is protected, however, during the 15-day window. If a certification is late, the employee loses FMLA protections after the 15 days are over and until they provide a certification.

If an employee never gives their employer the requested certification, the leave isn’t FMLA leave, and the employer may turn to their company policy and procedures to determine next steps.

Pause first

Before jumping to an FMLA leave denial, employers should talk to the employee to find out why they missed the 15-day deadline. There could be a valid reason they can’t meet the deadline. If so, employers must be flexible and give an employee more time.

Perhaps, for example, the health care provider is on vacation or isn’t available. The FMLA doesn’t list reasons employees might have for missing the deadline; employers have to consider the facts of each particular situation before denying leave

Incomplete or insufficient

Employees might give their employers a certification within 15 days, but not all the relevant entries are completed, or the information is vague. If that happens, employers must give the employees a written list of what’s needed to make the certification complete and sufficient. Employers must give employees at least 7 days to fix the certification.