Build your FMLA lawsuit shield: Make sure call-ins provide specific reason for absence.

Employees who are absent for an FMLA-covered reason are required to provide employers with enough information in their notice to demonstrate the need for FMLA leave. Most employers expect the employee to call in before the beginning of the shift, mentioning FMLA.

But what happens if you count the absence against the employee because she only reported that she was ill?

Unless you have a call-in protocol that allows you to convincingly argue she didn't provide enough information to classify the absence as qualifying for FMLA, it's her word against yours.

Recent case: Jennifer had been approved at work for intermittent FMLA leave for migraine flare-ups. She worked as an assembly operator, a job that depends on good attendance.

The company's attendance rules required Jennifer to call in and leave a voicemail for all unplanned absences and indicate if she would be taking intermittent FMLA leave.

She claimed that on July 21, she left a voicemail stating she had a migraine. She did the same for two other missed days. Jennifer was fired for missing those days. She filed...