Assume an employee asks for leave, to be taken in the future. At the time of the request, the employee is not covered by the FMLA because the employee has not yet been employed for one year. Later, the employee is terminated, and the termination occurs before the employee has been employed for a year. Does the employee’s advance request for leave make the employee “protected” under the FMLA, even though the employee was never eligible for leave?

In a ruling on January 10, 2012, the 11th Circuit recently said yes. The Court found that the FMLA “protects a pre-eligibility request for post-eligibility leave.” The Court reversed the lower court’s dismissal of the case, explaining that the lower court’s ruling would allow an employer to terminate an employee to avoid having to provide rightful FMLA leave once the employee becomes eligible.
Continue Reading Employee Not Yet Eligible for Leave Still Protected Under FMLA

Social media sitesThe NLRB’s Division of Advice recently issued memoranda in several different cases, showing that not all activity by employees on social media sites constitute protected activity.  These reports show that the Labor Board, like many employers, struggle with what is “protected concerted activity” – and thus protected from any employer discipline – and what are mere individual gripes – and most likely not protected.

The NLRB’s attempt to provide guidance in these memoranda does show the Labor Board’s adoption of a more realistic view of what is protected activity on social media than some had feared (and more realistic than some critics had charged).  In short, “protected concerted activity” even on social media must show more than an individual employee’s private complaint or gripe about her/his employer. The employee must be expressing group complaints (acting “with or on the authority of” other employees) and generally must be interacting with employees in such expression. Forbes.com posted a good article illustrating the differences. In one instance, the NLRB even examined whether a particular employee’s Facebook wall included ‘friends’ who were co-workers.
Continue Reading Labor Board Report Shows Its Struggles with the Realities of Social Media