The U.S. Department of Labor Proposes Revisions to the Family Medical Leave Act Regulations That Permit Settlement of FMLA Claims Without Department or Court Oversight
On February 11, 2008, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) proposed new regulations regarding the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). One topic of the DOL’s many proposals is the waiver of FMLA claims.
The FMLA contains a provision that makes it unlawful for an employer to interfere with or restrain the exercise of any right protected under the FMLA. The DOL's current regulations regarding this provision state that an employer cannot “induce employees to waive their rights under the FMLA.” As we have reported previously, this language led to a debate among the courts whether employers wishing to resolve FMLA disputes could do so at all, or only with supervision from the DOL or with court approval. The federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently held that employers could resolve FMLA disputes already in existence through private separation or settlement agreements, but that the employer could not require employees to waive their future FMLA rights through such a settlement. Dougherty v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, No. Civ. A. 05-2336 (E.D. Pa. August 2006). In a contrary ruling, however, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (embracing federal courts located in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina) held that the DOL’s waiver regulations prohibited all FMLA settlements without supervision from the DOL or without court approval. Taylor v. Progress Energy, Inc., 493 F.3d 454 (4th Cir. 2007).
The DOL’s proposed regulations, citing efficiency concerns and the public policy of promoting prompt settlements, make it clear that although employers may not enter into agreements that waive an employee’s “prospective rights under FMLA,” they can settle retrospective or existing claims in private agreements without oversight or approval from either the DOL or from a court.
You may submit comments about the proposed regulatory changes electronically at www.regulations.gov until midnight April 11, 2008.
