Doc botches FMLA certification: Can company get sued?
June 13, 2008 by Sam NarisiPosted in: FMLA, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views
Employers rely on medical certification to approve or deny FMLA leave. But what if an employee’s doctor screws up the form and leave is denied? Is the company at fault? Read the facts of this real-life case and decide: Who won?
The facts:
An employee needed time off because of back problems. She requested FMLA leave, but was turned down. Why? The certification form HR got from her doctor was incomplete. He didn’t provide any dates and gave only vague information about her condition. The company asked for a corrected form and never got one. The employee missed work anyway, and was fired. She sued, claiming the company should’ve given her more time to get certified or asked her to get a second opinion.
The employer said:
It gave the doctor enough chances to get the form right. After that, it was clear he wasn’t going to give enough information. As for the second opinion, if the employee wanted to see another doctor, she could have, but that wasn’t the company’s responsibility.
Who won the case?
Answer: The employer.
Why: The company did the right thing by asking the doctor for another form. The court ruled it wasn’t the company’s fault when he failed to complete it correctly the second time.
Also, the law allows companies to get a second opinion if they have questions about the first certification — but that doesn’t mean they have to send an employee to another doctor if the first one doesn’t fulfill his or her obligations.
Cite: Novak v. MetroHealth Medical Center
Tags: certification, doctor's forms, FMLA
June 25th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Are any of you having the problem where a doctor charges an employee to complete the FMLA paperwork? This has happened at least twice this year with women who are pregnant. The charge was up to $50. I’ve worked around this, but wonder how others handle it.
July 24th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Yes I have run into the Dr. charging. My own doctor has a notice posted that ANY form that needs to be filled out there will be a $25 charge. Our company simply pays the fee since we realize that the GPs are under great pressure. My Doctor said he has had to double the number of patients he sees in order to keep his income the same as 4 or 5 years ago due to lower reimbursement.
October 8th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
I actually ran into this for the first time today with an employee trying to get her short-term disability form completed by the doctor so she could draw some money for the time that he had her out of work. This is a very basic form that can be completed by qualified medical office personnel and then reviewed with the doctor for his signature. I called the doctor’s office and the office manager told me that it was their practice and that most doctor’s do this (I don’t necessarily agree with this). I told her that I thought it was ridiculous for them to charge a patient for this and that in all the years that I have been dealing with this that they were the first to do this. I think that physician’s need to carefully evaluate whether it’s really worth $15 - $50 dollars to lose face with a patient for a few dollars for completing rather routine forms. I mean, if a contract is signed between a doctor’s office and an insurance facility for medical procedures, that contract should include administrative and overhead fees negotiated in to cover these costs. Like other employers, medical facilities should cut costs in other areas as much as possible and not try to charge their patients alacarte fees. Irealize it’s a different story if someone has to pull a patient’s file and make copies, fill out a lot of forms, etc. for something such as a lawsuit - but for a few lines it’s just pure money to the doctor and you either pay the fee or the form isn’t completed and you don’t get your disability or FMLA or Worker’s Comp, etc. As the Human Resource Manager, I don’t get paid any extra for my “customer service” to our employees. I try to keep them happy and coming back (to work that is!).