If this sounds familiar, you may be experiencing the consequences of one of the most common FMLA mistakes employers make in Indiana. These mistakes are not always intentional, but they are often illegal, and they can seriously damage your career and financial stability.
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) gives eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for qualifying medical and family reasons. But the law only protects you if your employer follows it correctly. Many employers in Indiana do not.
This guide breaks down the most common FMLA mistakes employers make, what those mistakes mean for you as an employee, and what steps you can take to protect your rights.
What Is the FMLA and Why Does It Matter for Indiana Workers?
The FMLA is a federal law enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. It applies to employers with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius. To be eligible, an employee must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and logged at least 1,250 hours in the past year.
When those conditions are met, the law requires employers to:
- Grant up to 12 weeks of leave per year for qualifying reasons
- Maintain the employee’s health insurance during leave
- Restore the employee to the same or an equivalent position upon return
- Refrain from retaliating against the employee for taking leave
Understanding your rights starts with understanding how the law actually works. You can also explore our full guide on FMLA in Indiana: A 12-Week Guide for a deeper breakdown.
Despite these clear obligations, employers across Indiana routinely make errors, some of which rise to the level of legal violations. Knowing what those errors are puts you in a much stronger position to respond.
Why Do Indiana Employers Keep Getting FMLA Wrong?
FMLA compliance is more complicated than most employers realize. The law involves overlapping timelines, documentation requirements, and legal definitions that are easy to misapply. Many HR departments operate on outdated policies. Some supervisors make decisions without consulting legal counsel.
The result? Employees get hurt. They lose pay, lose their jobs, or suffer demotions because their employer failed to administer the law correctly.
Here is what the research tells us: According to the Department of Labor’s FMLA Survey, a significant portion of employers struggle with FMLA notice and eligibility determinations. Misapplication is not rare. It is widespread.
For employees in Indiana, that means your employer may be making mistakes right now that affect your leave, your job, or your future with the company.
What Are the Most Common FMLA Mistakes Indiana Employers Make?
Below is a comprehensive breakdown of the most common FMLA mistakes employers make. Each one carries real legal risk for employers and real consequences for employees.
Mistake 1: Failing to Recognize When FMLA Leave Has Been Requested
Employees do not have to use the words “FMLA leave” to trigger their rights. If an employee informs their employer that they need time off for a serious health condition, to care for a family member, or for the birth or adoption of a child, the employer has a legal obligation to recognize that as a potential FMLA request.
Many Indiana employers miss this. They wait for employees to formally request FMLA by name, which is not what the law requires. When employers fail to flag an absence as potentially FMLA-qualifying, the employee loses the protection they are legally entitled to.
“An employee calling in sick for a week due to a serious medical condition is, in many cases, putting their employer on notice for FMLA purposes. The employer’s obligation does not begin when the employee learns the law. It begins when the employer learns the facts.”
If you were disciplined for absences that should have been covered under FMLA, you may have a valid claim. Learn more about how Indiana employers handle medical leave requests and where things go wrong.
Mistake 2: Not Providing Timely FMLA Notices and Designations
The FMLA has strict timing requirements for employer notices. Once an employer has enough information to determine that leave may qualify for FMLA, they must:
- Provide an eligibility notice within 5 business days
- Provide a rights and responsibilities notice at the same time
- Designate the leave as FMLA-qualifying within 5 business days of receiving sufficient information
Employers who delay these notices, or skip them entirely, violate the FMLA. This is one of the most common FMLA mistakes because HR departments are often slow-moving, understaffed, or unaware of the deadlines.
If your employer never confirmed your leave was FMLA-designated, or gave you paperwork weeks after the fact, that is a compliance failure worth discussing with an attorney.
Mistake 3: Incorrectly Determining Employee Eligibility
Some employers wrongly deny FMLA leave because they believe the employee does not qualify. Common eligibility errors include:
| Employer Error | What the Law Actually Says |
|---|---|
| Counting hours incorrectly | 1,250 hours must be calculated carefully; off-schedule work counts |
| Misapplying the 12-month rule | Non-consecutive periods of employment may count |
| Misidentifying employer size | Joint employer relationships and integrated employer rules can expand coverage |
| Denying leave for new hires incorrectly | Some employees who transfer positions retain eligibility |
Improper eligibility denials are especially harmful because employees may not realize they had a right to leave until after they have already been disciplined or terminated.
Mistake 4: Requiring Employees to Find Shift Coverage or Return Calls During Leave
This one surprises many people. Employers are not permitted to require employees on FMLA leave to handle work tasks, answer emails, respond to calls, or find someone to cover their duties. FMLA leave is protected time. Interference with that time is a violation of the law.
Some Indiana employers pressure employees to “check in” or stay reachable during leave. Others demand that the employee arrange shift coverage as a condition of having the leave approved. Both practices are problematic under the FMLA.
If you were contacted repeatedly during medical leave and pressured to work, your rights under the FMLA may have been violated.
Mistake 5: Disciplining or Penalizing Employees for FMLA Absences
This is one of the most damaging common FMLA mistakes. It happens when employers treat FMLA-protected absences as attendance violations. Employees are given points under no-fault attendance policies, written up for being absent, or passed over for promotions because of time they were legally allowed to take.
The FMLA is explicit: employers cannot count FMLA leave against employees under attendance or disciplinary policies. Doing so is considered FMLA interference, which is illegal.
If your employer uses a point-based attendance system and counted your FMLA leave against your attendance record, that action may be the foundation of a legal claim. You can learn more about how retaliation and interference work by reviewing our page on workplace retaliation in Indiana.
Mistake 6: Failing to Maintain Health Benefits During Leave
Under the FMLA, employers must maintain group health insurance coverage during an employee’s leave under the same terms as if the employee had continued working. This means the employer cannot cancel coverage, increase premiums, or alter the terms of coverage during the leave period.
Many Indiana employees do not discover this violation until they receive a medical bill or a notice of policy cancellation while on leave. If your health coverage was disrupted while you were on approved FMLA leave, your employer may have violated the law.
Mistake 7: Not Restoring the Employee to the Same or Equivalent Position
When an employee returns from FMLA leave, the employer must restore them to the same position they held before the leave, or to an equivalent position with the same pay, benefits, and terms of employment.
Common violations here include:
- Returning the employee to a lower-paying role
- Reducing hours or schedule
- Assigning different and less favorable duties
- Moving the employee to a different location with a longer commute
- Eliminating the position and claiming it was a “business decision”
Position elimination during or immediately after FMLA leave raises serious legal concerns. Courts and regulators look closely at the timing of these decisions. If your role disappeared while you were on leave, that warrants legal review.
You can also read our full breakdown on wrongful termination in Indiana to understand when a job elimination may cross legal lines.
Mistake 8: Retaliating Against Employees Who Take FMLA Leave
Retaliation is one of the most serious FMLA violations. It occurs when an employer takes adverse action against an employee because they exercised their FMLA rights. Retaliation can look like:
- Termination shortly after returning from leave
- Demotion or reduction in responsibilities
- Sudden negative performance reviews after years of positive evaluations
- Exclusion from meetings, projects, or promotions
- Hostile treatment from management after return
Retaliation claims are often the strongest employment law cases because the timing speaks for itself. When an employee is fired two weeks after returning from 12 weeks of protected leave, that sequence is difficult for employers to explain.
Our guide on retaliation protections in Indiana explains how these claims work and what evidence matters.
Mistake 9: Mishandling Intermittent FMLA Leave
Intermittent FMLA leave is leave taken in separate blocks of time or by reducing a normal work schedule for a single qualifying reason. It is also one of the most frequently mismanaged aspects of FMLA compliance.
Employers often:
- Deny intermittent leave that is clearly qualifying
- Fail to track it properly
- Use intermittent absences as a reason to discipline the employee
- Require employees to use full sick days when partial-day leave should have applied
For employees managing chronic conditions, mental health needs, or ongoing treatment, intermittent leave can be essential. When employers deny or mismanage it, the impact on your health and your job can be severe.
If you are navigating this type of leave, our guide on how to apply for FMLA benefits in Indiana can help clarify your rights.
Mistake 10: Demanding Too Much Medical Information
Employers are permitted to request medical certification for FMLA leave. However, they are not permitted to request more information than what the law allows. This means employers cannot:
- Ask for a complete medical history
- Contact the employee’s doctor directly without authorization
- Demand a diagnosis beyond what is required for certification
- Require second opinions without following proper procedures
When employers overstep in this area, they may violate both the FMLA and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which limits employer inquiries into employee medical conditions.
How Do These Mistakes Connect to Larger Workplace Rights Violations?
FMLA violations rarely happen in isolation. They often appear alongside other employment law violations, including:
- Workplace discrimination based on disability, pregnancy, or age
- Unlawful termination dressed up as a performance or restructuring decision
- Denial of reasonable accommodations under the ADA
- Retaliation tied to prior complaints or protected activity
For example, an employee with a serious health condition who takes FMLA leave may also have ADA protections requiring their employer to offer reasonable accommodations upon return. When employers ignore both, the legal exposure grows significantly.
Learn more about how Indiana workplace rights layer together by visiting our full overview of Indiana employment laws.
What Should You Do If Your Employer Made One of These Mistakes?
Step 1: Document Everything
Start a written record immediately. Note dates, conversations, emails, and any changes to your employment after leave. Documentation is often the difference between a strong legal case and a weak one. Our guide on how to document workplace violations in Indiana provides a practical framework.
Step 2: Save All Communications
Keep copies of every written notice, email, text, or letter related to your leave request and return. This includes approval letters, denial notices, and any performance reviews that occurred around the time of your leave. You can also review how emails and texts can win employment law cases.
Step 3: Know Your Deadlines
FMLA claims have specific filing deadlines. Generally, you have two years from the date of a violation to file a claim, or three years if the violation was willful. Missing these windows can eliminate your legal options entirely. For a full breakdown, see our page on Indiana employment law claim deadlines.
Step 4: Consult an Indiana Employment Attorney
FMLA cases involve nuanced legal standards that vary based on employer size, employment history, and the nature of the leave. An experienced employment attorney can evaluate whether your employer’s conduct crossed a legal line and what remedies may be available to you.
At Amber Boyd Law, we work with Indiana employees who have faced FMLA interference and retaliation. You can learn what to expect when you reach out by reading about our employment lawyer first consultation process.
What Remedies Are Available When Employers Violate the FMLA?
If your employer violated your FMLA rights, you may be entitled to meaningful relief. Available remedies under the FMLA can include:
| Type of Remedy | What It Covers |
|---|---|
| Back pay | Wages and salary lost due to the violation |
| Front pay | Future earnings lost if reinstatement is not practical |
| Reinstatement | Return to the same or equivalent position |
| Benefits recovery | Lost health insurance and other employment benefits |
| Liquidated damages | Doubling of back pay and interest in willful violation cases |
| Attorney fees | Legal costs recoverable from the employer in successful claims |
The value of your claim depends on the specific facts of your situation, the severity of the violation, and how the employer responds. Consulting an attorney early in the process helps preserve evidence and maximize your options. You can explore how damages are calculated by reviewing our breakdown of discrimination damages and payout examples in Indiana.
Are Small Businesses in Indiana Exempt from FMLA Rules?
Yes, with important caveats. The FMLA applies only to employers with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius. Smaller employers in Indiana are not covered by the federal FMLA.
However, smaller employers may still be subject to:
- Indiana state laws governing leave and accommodation
- The Americans with Disabilities Act (for employers with 15 or more employees)
- The Pregnancy Discrimination Act
- Contractual leave obligations in employment agreements
Even if the FMLA does not apply to your employer, you may have other legal protections. An Indiana employment attorney can help you identify which laws apply to your specific situation. For a comprehensive overview, see our guide on workplace leave rights in Indiana.
How Does FMLA Interact With Indiana’s At-Will Employment Rules?
Indiana is an at-will employment state, which means employers can generally terminate employees for any reason or no reason at all, as long as the reason is not illegal.
FMLA is one of the clearest exceptions to at-will employment. If an employer fires you because you took FMLA leave, the fact that Indiana is at-will does not protect the employer. The FMLA’s anti-retaliation provisions override at-will status when leave is the reason for the termination.
This is a critical distinction that many employees do not realize. You can read more about how at-will employment works in Indianapolis and where its limitations begin.
What Are Common FMLA Mistakes That Employees Make?
While this article focuses on employer errors, employees also make FMLA mistakes that can weaken their legal position. These include:
- Failing to give adequate notice of leave (generally 30 days for foreseeable leave)
- Not submitting required medical certification on time
- Working for another employer during leave without permission
- Using FMLA leave for purposes other than the stated reason
- Not returning certification paperwork by the employer’s deadline
Understanding both sides of FMLA compliance helps you avoid procedural missteps that could complicate your case. For a detailed review of what employees should watch out for, see our page on common FMLA mistakes.
How Can You Tell If Your Employer’s FMLA Handling Was Illegal?
Not every FMLA error is a violation with legal consequences. However, some patterns are strong indicators that your employer crossed a legal line.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Did your employer deny leave you were legally entitled to?
- Were your absences counted against you in a disciplinary system?
- Did you return from leave to a lesser position, reduced hours, or a pay cut?
- Were you terminated shortly after returning from leave?
- Did your employer fail to give you any written notice about FMLA?
- Was your health insurance cancelled or altered during leave?
- Were you pressured to work during your leave period?
If you answered yes to any of these, it is worth speaking with an Indiana employment attorney. A consultation does not commit you to anything, but it gives you a clear picture of whether you have a viable claim.
You can also review our page on whether you can sue your employer for unfair treatment to understand the broader legal landscape.
Frequently Asked Questions About Common FMLA Mistakes in Indiana
Can my employer deny FMLA leave even if I qualify?
No. If you meet the eligibility requirements and your reason qualifies under the FMLA, your employer cannot legally deny the leave. Denying valid FMLA leave is considered interference and is a violation of federal law. If you were denied leave you were entitled to, you may have grounds for a legal claim.
What happens if my employer did not tell me about FMLA?
Employers are required by law to provide FMLA notices and inform employees of their rights. If your employer failed to provide the required notices and that failure harmed you, it may constitute a violation of the FMLA. Courts have found liability even when employees did not formally request FMLA if the employer had notice of a qualifying condition. You can explore your options by contacting an Indiana employment lawyer.
Can I be fired while I am on FMLA leave?
Technically, yes, under very limited circumstances. For example, if your employer conducts a legitimate, pre-planned layoff that would have included you regardless of your leave status, that may not constitute a violation. However, if the termination is connected to your leave, that is likely illegal retaliation. Timing matters greatly in these cases.
Does Indiana have its own family and medical leave law beyond the federal FMLA?
Indiana does not have a separate state-level family and medical leave law that expands significantly beyond the federal FMLA. However, other state and federal laws, such as the ADA and Indiana’s civil rights laws, may provide additional protections depending on the circumstances. See our overview of Indiana employment laws for a full picture.
How long do I have to file an FMLA claim against my employer in Indiana?
The standard statute of limitations for FMLA claims is two years from the date of the violation. For willful violations, the deadline extends to three years. Missing this window means losing your legal options, so acting quickly is important. Review our page on Indiana employment law claim deadlines for more detail.
Can I take FMLA leave for mental health issues?
Yes. Mental health conditions that qualify as serious health conditions under the FMLA, including depression, anxiety disorders, PTSD, and other conditions requiring inpatient care or continuing treatment, are covered. Your employer cannot treat mental health leave differently from physical health leave when it meets the qualifying criteria.
What if my employer asked me to work during my FMLA leave?
Requiring or pressuring an employee to perform work duties during FMLA leave is a form of FMLA interference. Even asking you to check emails, respond to calls, or prepare materials during protected leave may constitute a violation depending on the circumstances. Document every instance and consult with an attorney promptly.
Does FMLA apply if I work from home in Indiana?
Yes. Remote workers are covered by the FMLA the same as in-office employees, provided they meet the eligibility requirements. The 50-employee threshold is calculated based on the employer’s total workforce, and remote workers count toward that number. Your employer cannot treat your remote status as a reason to deny FMLA protections.
Can my employer require me to use PTO during FMLA leave?
Yes, this is permitted. Employers may require employees to substitute accrued paid leave, such as vacation or sick time, during FMLA leave. However, this substitution does not extend the 12-week FMLA entitlement. The paid time runs concurrently with FMLA leave, not in addition to it.
What evidence is most useful in an FMLA retaliation case?
Strong evidence typically includes the timing of adverse actions relative to the leave, written communications showing the employer’s awareness of the leave, sudden changes in performance evaluations, and any statements by supervisors about the leave. Our article on evidence that wins retaliation cases in Indiana provides a detailed breakdown.
Take Action Before Your Rights Expire
Common FMLA mistakes by employers are not just administrative errors. They are violations of federal law that can cost you your job, your income, and your career trajectory. Indiana workers deserve to take the leave they are legally entitled to without fear of punishment, demotion, or termination.
If your employer denied your FMLA request, interfered with your leave, failed to restore your position, or retaliated against you for taking time off, you may have a strong legal claim worth pursuing.
At Amber Boyd Law, we represent Indiana employees who have been wronged by employers who failed to follow the law. Our firm understands how distressing these situations can be, and we are here to help you understand your options with honesty and clarity.
We encourage you to review our guide on what to expect during a legal consultation and explore our full range of Indiana employment law services. When you are ready, our team is available to evaluate your situation and help you determine your next steps.
Contact Amber Boyd Law at (317) 960-5070 or visit our contact page to schedule a confidential case evaluation. Our office is located at 8506-8510 Evergreen Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46240. You can also find us on Google Maps.
