Dive Brief:

• A recent federal court decision has put HR professionals on notice that decisions regarding the Family Medical Leave Act could impact them personally.

• According to a Lexology report, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled earlier this month that an employer’s HR director could be held individually liable for FMLA violations.

• In this specific case, the court decided that the HR director had enough control over the employee’s work and enough responsibility related to employee's hiring that the HR director qualified as an “employer” under the statute. Specifically, the Court noted that an individual can be liable under the FMLA if they are an “employer” which the Court defined as “any person who acts, directly or indirectly, in the interest of the employer to any of its employees.” 

Dive Insight:

In its decision on the case, which involved an employee of the Culinary Institute of America, the court relied on the fact that the HR director, who is personally named in the FMLA lawsuit, had control over the employee’s schedule and conditions of employment, which made the director an “employer” as the court defined that term, according to Lexology author William Andrews of the Gray Robinson law firm.

While the decision was limited to the HR director (and the employee's manager), the same rational would apply to any executive, manager or supervisor who exercises control over an employee’s "wages, hours of work, and working conditions," Andrews reports.

He also adds that it's likely the decision passes muster in other courts throughout the country, so all employers subject to FMLA (more than 50 employees within a 75-mile radius) should educate their HR and business line managers regarding the FMLA requirements.