The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division recently released an opinion letter finding that employees who qualify for leave under the FMLA may use FMLA leave to work reduced hours until they have exhausted their FMLA leave.
As background, an employer received a medical certification stating that an employee could only work 8 hours per day and requesting FMLA leave for any work tine in excess of 8 hours per day (the employer noted that it was standard in this workplace for employees to work more than 8 hours). The employer sought an opinion from the DOL as to whether limiting an employee’s hours was better considered as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA rather than job-protected leave under the FMLA.
