The Company sent out a memo today, December 28, 2016, requesting a doctors note for Flight Attendants calling out Friday, December 30, 2016 to Wednesday, January 4, 2017. Per Section 13.D. Verification of Illness or Injury The Company reserves the right to require a written physician’s statement verifying the illness or injury. The cost of such statement shall be paid by the Flight Attendant (who may use the Medical Plan, if she/he has such plan), unless the Company designates the physician and the illness or injury is verified by that physician, in which case the Company shall reimburse the Flight Attendant for her/his out of pocket expense.
If you have intermittent FMLA, you should not have to provide a doctors note as this would be requesting certification all over again.
§825.307 Authentication and clarification of medical certification for leave taken because of an employee’s own serious health condition or the serious health condition of a family member; second and third opinions.
(a) Clarification and authentication. If an employee submits a complete and sufficient certification signed by the health care provider, the employer may not request additional information from the health care provider. However, the employer may contact the health care provider for purposes of clarification and authentication of the medical certification (whether initial certification or recertification) after the employer has given the employee an opportunity to cure any deficiencies as set forth in §825.305(c). To make such contact, the employer must use a health care provider, a human resources professional, a leave administrator, or a management official. Under no circumstances, however, may the employee’s direct supervisor contact the employee’s health care provider. For purposes of these regulations, authentication means providing the health care provider with a copy of the certification and requesting verification that the information contained on the certification form was completed and/or authorized by the health care provider who signed the document; no additional medical information may be requested. Clarification means contacting the health care provider to understand the handwriting on the medical certification or to understand the meaning of a response. Employers may not ask health care providers for additional information beyond that required by the certification form. The requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule (see 45 CFR parts 160 and 164), which governs the privacy of individually-identifiable health information created or held by HIPAA-covered entities, must be satisfied when individually-identifiable health information of an employee is shared with an employer by a HIPAA-covered health care provider. If an employee chooses not to provide the employer with authorization allowing the employer to clarify the certification with the health care provider, and does not otherwise clarify the certification, the employer may deny the taking of FMLA leave if the certification is unclear. See §825.305(d). It is the employee’s responsibility to provide the employer with a complete and sufficient certification and to clarify the certification if necessary.
You may call out miscellaneous per Section 28.N. A Flight Attendant who is unable to report for work due to a serious situation not involving her/his own personal illness or injury shall be permitted to call in absent under the “miscellaneous” or similar category in accordance with Company policy.
If you have any questions or an issues arises, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at .
In Solidarity,
Sara Gonzales Melissa Brennan Marche’ Johnson-Cooper
GENERAL CHAIR SPECIAL REP. SPECIAL REP.
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