I'm the LOA focal/disability manager at Boeing Satellite Systems.

We at Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS) are asking for opinions/solutions to a dilemma that has arisen. The issue: Boeing's Corporate physician is hesitant to allow BSS in El Segundo, CA, to continue maintaining our onsite disability management program since most of our employee medical leaves, (for serious medical conditions), run concurrent with FMLA. Her concern is that we're in violation of FMLA when requesting specific medical documentation, (instead of just a FMLA cert), and also in applying a specific duration to the medical/FMLA LOA based on the employee's diagnoses. We never ran into this issue when we had an outside vendor, (Core), managing our disabilities, but now our BSS RNs and physician are managing the medical/FMLA leaves. Is the Company in violation when, as the employer, we, (BSS Medical Services), manages medical/FMLA leaves the same as if FMLA wasn't running concurrent with the medical leaves?

Thanks for any/all opinions.

1 answer  |  asked Nov 5, 2003 12:38 PM [EST]  |  applies to California

Answers (1)

Janet M. Koehn
ask your corp counsel

dear vicky, you are a large corporation, with many legal resources. this site is designed for general answers to questions that people with few or no resources have about employment-related issues. it is not for a large corporation's professional human resources department to use without charge. you should be asking this question of your corporate counsel staff. if necessary they will refer it out to your outside counsel.

just fyi, i have sued a large corporation at least five years ago over this issue. my suit resulted in a change in their policy of having the disability benefits department passing on fmla claims. your physician is right to be concerned, and you need to trot over to corporate legal asap.
janet m. koehn
ventura ca

posted by Janet M. Koehn  |  Nov 5, 2003 1:09 PM [EST]

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