How are employers' FMLA obligations coordinated with other legal requirements?

The FMLA does not modify or affect any federal or state law prohibiting discrimination on the basis race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. In addition, it does not supersede any state or local law that provides greater family or medical leave rights. In other words, if state law is more generous with regard to leave, state law applies. Be sure to check State Laws for the laws that apply in your state(s).

What about bargaining agreements and employment contracts? The FMLA also does not diminish the obligation of an employer to comply with any collective bargaining agreement or employee benefit program providing greater leave rights than granted under the Act. No collective bargaining agreement or any employment benefit or plan may diminish the rights established for employees by FMLA-unions cannot bargain away employees' FMLA rights.

May employers adopt more generous policies? The FMLA involves the minimum leave requirements-what covered employers must do. It does not prevent employers from adopting or retaining leave policies more generous than policies that comply with FMLA requirements.

How does the FMLA coordinate with workers' compensation laws? Leave taken under workers' compensation laws and the FMLA may run concurrently, but an employer cannot require an employee to substitute, under FMLA, any paid vacation or other leave during an absence covered by payments from state workers' compensation funds. Moreover, an employee who is receiving workers' compensation benefits and also taking family leave cannot be forced to return from family leave to take a light duty assignment. However, a refusal to take a light duty assignment could mean suspension of workers' compensation benefits under applicable state laws.

For more on workers' compensation, see How are workers' compensation benefits coordinated with other benefits? at ¶49,610 . For information on the relationship between the FMLA and the Americans with Disabilities Act, see How do employers' FMLA obligations coordinate with their obligations under the ADA? at ¶45,485 .