Originally presented on February 2, 2010
10:30 a.m. to Noon (Pacific)

Order Option       Price   CD Recording Only       $219

2009's sweeping changes to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) contain several provisions relating to requests for medical certifications. For instance, the regulations increase the amount of time an employer has to request certification from 2 days to 5 days after receiving notice of a worker's need for leave.

The regulations also provide employers with greater leeway in authenticating medical certifications and allow them additional opportunities to request certain information from a medical provider. The catch? This leeway comes with increased compliance requirements. One small slip, and your organization could find itself in a huge legal mess.

Join us on Feb. 2 for an in-depth webinar, specifically for California employers, and learn all about the potential legal pitfalls - and how to avoid them.

You and your colleagues will learn:

• How the new FMLA certification rules interact with existing California law
• The DOL form California employers must never use - and why
• When you can and cannot contact a healthcare provider about a worker's medical condition
• The questions you may ask a medical provider, and the legal line you must never cross when requesting medical information
• What to do if a worker's documentation is incomplete, vague, or unresponsive
• When you can legally deny leave based on an employee's failure to provide sufficient and complete medical documentation
• The recertification challenges you could face in light of the new regulations
• When you may request a recertification
• The major effect the new regulations have on your requests for fitness-for-duty certifications
• Potential liability that could arise under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act if you mishandle medical certifications

About Your Speaker:

Laura Innes, Esq. is a director of Simpson, Garrity, Innes, & Jacuzzi, PC, in South San Francisco. She has been engaged exclusively in the practice of labor and employment law for over 20 years. Her practice combines preventive counseling for management with civil and administrative trial defense.

Recognized by Martindale Hubbell as an "AV" rated practitioner, Innes regularly publishes articles on a wide range of employment law topics and is a frequent speaker to client and community groups. She has been named a Northern California "Super Lawyer" - one of the top 5 percent of lawyers in Northern California - by San Francisco Magazine every year since 2004 and was featured in an interview entitled "America's Most Influential Women" for the Forbes SkyRadio program airing on American Airlines and United Airlines flights in January and March 2005, respectively.

This program has been approved for 1.5 recertification credit hours toward PHR and SPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI). This program is also a California-specific continuing education activity for PHR-CA and SPHR-CA recertification. For more information about certification or recertification, please visit the HRCI homepage at www.hrci.org. The use of this seal is not an endorsement by HRCI of the quality of the program. It means that this program has met HRCI's criteria to be pre-approved for recertification credit.

The Employer Resource Institute is an approved MCLE Multiple Activity Provider, and this program has been approved for 1.5 hours of MCLE credit by the State Bar of California. For more information, please contact our customer service department at (800) 695-7178.

Bonus Offer

As an additional benefit, you will receive a no-risk trial subscription to Employment Law Compliance for California Supervisors when you register for this webinar (or purchase a CD recording). Each month, you'll receive copies of the current issue to share with your front-line supervisors. If you want to continue to receive the newsletter, simply pay the invoice you will receive in the mail. If you decide the newsletter isn't for you, just write cancel on the invoice and return it. You will owe nothing, and all issues you receive are yours to keep. As with all ERI products, your satisfaction is guaranteed 100%. (Offer good for new subscribers only.)

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Why You Can Sign Up To Attend This Event with Confidence

As with all Employer Resource Institute products, you're completely protected. If for any reason you are unsatisfied with this webinar, simply let us know and we will return your entire registration fee.