[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 3]
[Revised as of July 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR825.305]

[Page 784]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
         CHAPTER V--WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
 
PART 825_THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993--Table of Contents
 
 Subpart C_How do Employees Learn of Their FMLA Rights and Obligations, 
            and What Can an Employer Require of an Employee?
 
Sec. 825.305  When must an employee provide medical certification to 
support FMLA leave?

    (a) An employer may require that an employee's leave to care for the 
employee's seriously-ill spouse, son, daughter, or parent, or due to the 
employee's own serious health condition that makes the employee unable 
to perform one or more of the essential functions of the employee's 
position, be supported by a certification issued by the health care 
provider of the employee or the employee's ill family member. An 
employer must give notice of a requirement for medical certification 
each time a certification is required; such notice must be written 
notice whenever required by Sec. 825.301. An employer's oral request to 
an employee to furnish any subsequent medical certification is 
sufficient.
    (b) When the leave is foreseeable and at least 30 days notice has 
been provided, the employee should provide the medical certification 
before the leave begins. When this is not possible, the employee must 
provide the requested certification to the employer within the time 
frame requested by the employer (which must allow at least 15 calendar 
days after the employer's request), unless it is not practicable under 
the particular circumstances to do so despite the employee's diligent, 
good faith efforts.
    (c) In most cases, the employer should request that an employee 
furnish certification from a health care provider at the time the 
employee gives notice of the need for leave or within two business days 
thereafter, or, in the case of unforeseen leave, within two business 
days after the leave commences. The employer may request certification 
at some later date if the employer later has reason to question the 
appropriateness of the leave or its duration.
    (d) At the time the employer requests certification, the employer 
must also advise an employee of the anticipated consequences of an 
employee's failure to provide adequate certification. The employer shall 
advise an employee whenever the employer finds a certification 
incomplete, and provide the employee a reasonable opportunity to cure 
any such deficiency.
    (e) If the employer's sick or medical leave plan imposes medical 
certification requirements that are less stringent than the 
certification requirements of these regulations, and the employee or 
employer elects to substitute paid sick, vacation, personal or family 
leave for unpaid FMLA leave where authorized (see Sec. 825.207), only 
the employer's less stringent sick leave certification requirements may 
be imposed.