When one of your employees is out on FMLA leave, it feels right to check in. How’s the new baby? How’s your mother doing? What’s your recovery been like?
Questions like these might come naturally, but they could violate the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). That’s why it’s so important that HR knows the rules behind communicating with employees on FMLA leave.
The FMLA says employers aren’t allowed to be invasive when talking with employees on leave. Some employees applaud this rule. According to AbsenceSoft research, 33% of employees said they had a poor leave experience because their employer contacted them too much.
But not all employees feel this way. The same survey revealed that 30% of employees said their poor experience stemmed from a lack of communication. This tension leaves employers in a tight spot, navigating conflicting employee expectations in addition to the FMLA’s hard-and-fast rules.
In this article, we’ll review the rules that regulate communicating with employees on FMLA leave. We’ll also help you devise a communication strategy that makes room for human interaction while respecting your employees’ privacy.
Why FMLA Communication Is So Hard to Get Right
FMLA communication encompasses more than the messages you send employees while they’re out on leave. It also includes the information exchanged prior to their time away, the paperwork certifying their absence, and the planning done in advance of their return.
None of this work happens in a vacuum. It’s accomplished in the background, as an employee experiences something significant, whether that’s a serious illness, the arrival of a child, or new caretaking responsibilities.
That’s why it’s critical to get FMLA communication right. You’re not just filling out paperwork or sending a quick email. You’re administering the time your employees need to heal, to bond, to take care of those they hold dear.
The Legal Stakes Are Higher Than Most Managers Realize
The U.S. Department of Labor, the agency that enforces the FMLA, sets specific requirements around the communication needed to establish someone’s leave. For example, when an employee asks for FMLA leave, you have five business days to tell them whether they’re eligible. You have the same amount of time to designate an employee’s time away as FMLA leave once they’ve handed in their documentation.
If you fail to provide these notices on time, the delay may count as an interference with an employee’s FMLA rights. You could be liable for lost compensation and other types of monetary losses or, as the DOL puts it, “appropriate equitable or other relief.”
The Human Stakes Are Just as High
The DOL’s deadlines aren’t the only thing you have to worry about. Communication plays a big role in determining whether someone’s leave experience is good or bad. According to AbsenceSoft research, communication mess-ups were a factor for a third of employees who said they had a poor leave experience. These mistakes have lasting consequences. Among employees who were dissatisfied with their leave of absence, 36% said they started looking for a new job, and 14% quit their position outright.
How Managers Factor Into The Communication Equation
While HR is usually the one to handle FMLA paperwork, managers do a lot of communicating, too, especially on the front end of someone’s leave. This can be a compliance risk for organizations, as managers have a reputation for mishandling early FMLA processes. In fact, when AbsenceSoft asked HR leaders to name their top leave-related challenge, 42% said it was managers who don’t understand how to handle requests. This finding highlights the importance of regular, thorough manager training.
The Core Rules
Is it ever OK to contact an employee who’s on FMLA leave? Human resource professionals and managers are allowed to get in touch with employees on FMLA leave. But certain communications and requests can lead to FMLA interference, a serious violation of the law. Here, we break down the rules regulating all types of FMLA communication.
Required Employer Notices and Their Deadlines
When administering FMLA leave, there are a couple of boxes you need to check.
- Eligibility Notice: When an employee requests FMLA leave, you have five business days to tell them whether they’re eligible.
- Rights and Responsibilities Notice: Every time you provide someone with an eligibility notice, give them a rights and responsibilities notice, too.
- Designation Notice: Once you have enough information to determine whether an employee qualifies for FMLA leave, you need to provide a designation notice within five business days.
What You Cannot Ask or Say During Leave
The FMLA is surprisingly vague when it comes to contacting employees who are on leave. That doesn’t mean employers should feel free to bombard workers with calls, texts, and emails. On the contrary, employers must limit their contact to brief, necessary exchanges to avoid violations of the FMLA and wage and hour laws.
If you must reach out to an employee, do not pressure an employee to return to work early. Try your best to minimize work-related questions. It’s worth noting that the courts say brief exchanges like short phone calls about work do not count as FMLA interference. But employers cannot require employees to work while on FMLA leave. So make sure that you do not ask employees to perform any work.
If you’re contacting to check on an employee’s well-being, remember that the FMLA maintains rules about medical information. Some employees may appreciate a message containing some well-wishes, but don’t let your warm regards turn into a request for confidential information.
Best Practices for Communicating with Employees on FMLA Leave
The rules about communicating with employees on FMLA leave are vague. While there are some mistakes to avoid, it’s easier to focus on what you should do rather than what you shouldn’t do. Below, learn about the best practices of FMLA communication for human resources and managers.
Set Clear Expectations Before Leave Begins
When the situation allows, talk with employees about what communication will look like during their leave before they head out of the office. Establish a single point of contact. This person will be the sole individual to reach out during their time away.
It’s also helpful to ask employees about their preferences. Would the appreciate an occasional message? Or would they rather be left alone? It’s important to understand this; According to AbsenceSoft research, a third of employees who had a poor leave of absence experience said they were contacted too much. But a similar amount said their disappointment was driven by too little contact. You can offer better leave experiences by adjust your communication plan according to individual preference.
Keep Contact Limited, Purposeful, and Brief
Generally speaking, restrict your communications to what is absolutely necessary. You can reach out with questions about an employee’s return date, documentation, or benefits. But make sure these communications don’t pressure the employee to come back early or push working while on leave. It’s worth repeating: You may not require employees on FMLA leave to work.
Use Consistent, Documented Communication Channels
When you call, text, message, and email employees on leave, you create compliance risk. This jumble of contact methods requires manual documentation, which is an easy step to miss. With a leave management platform, you can build consistency into the communication process. What’s more, a high-quality platform will automatically document every point of contact.
Plan the Return-to-Work Conversation in Advance
When possible, plan the details of an employee’s return date before their leave begins. Many managers skip this step. According to AbsenceSoft’s 2026 Leave and Accommodations Report, only 26% of employees had a manager-led return-to-work conversation. It’s helpful for managers to lead this conversation. They should spearhead coverage planning, facilitate team communication, and set expectations for the returning employee.
Managers can use return-to-work conversations to address accommodations, too. Employees returning from FMLA leave often need a reasonable accommodation, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Managers should facilitate their access to support, whether that takes the form of extra breaks, intermittent leave, or specialized equipment.
How AbsenceSoft Clarifies FMLA Communication
The rules surrounding FMLA communication can be exasperating for human resources and managers alike. The law maintains incredibly specific requirements for the leave certification process. But when it comes to communication during an employee’s leave, organizations are left with a few guidelines and their best guess.
Communication doesn’t have to feel so confusing. With a leave management platform like AbsenceSoft, you can automate the communication process while leaving plenty of room for personalization. Our technology enables you to be completely compliant while remaining compassionate, two things that are essential to FMLA management.
Here are a few features AbsenceSoft provides to optimize your approach to FMLA communication:
- Proactive, Timed Notices That Go Out Automatically
When you’re tracking leave in a spreadsheet, it’s tough to remember when you need to send Form WH-381 or whether you’ve already given someone their Form WH-382. With tools like Absencesoft, you don’t have to. The AbsenceSoft Compliance Engine Packet Generator creates and sends compliant packets and notices automatically. - All Communications Centralized and Logged
The AbsenceSoft platform stores every notice, text, and document automatically and in one case file. If a complaint arises, the audit trail is already there. - Text Messaging That Meets Employees Where They Are
With AbsenceSoft, employees can text their way through the leave process. Every message is automatically attached to their case and stored in our centralized system, ensuring a full communications record is always available.
Level Up Your Leave Communication With AbsenceSoft
When one of your employees welcomes a baby, has a surgery, or needs to care for a loved one, it’s up to you to orchestrate their time off without any hiccups. The FMLA is tricky to manage, especially because it’s both frustratingly prescriptive and surprisingly vague when it comes to communication.
AbsenceSoft simplifies FMLA communication. Our platform will ensure you and your team meet every deadline as you determine eligibility. It will provide a central location for your conversations with employees, generating and storing documentation automatically. It will even keep your managers on track, reminding them when employees are approaching their return-to-work date.
If you’d like to learn more about how AbsenceSoft can improve your approach to FMLA communication, book a demo today.
FAQ on Employee Communication During FMLA
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Yes, but contact should be limited, purposeful, and brief. Employers can reach out about return dates, documentation, and benefits. What you cannot do is pressure employees to return early, require them to perform work, or ask for confidential medical information. When in doubt, less is more. AbsenceSoft helps by centralizing all communication in one place, so every interaction is documented and your team always knows what has already been said.
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Missing a required notice deadline, like the five-business-day window to provide an eligibility or designation notice, can constitute interference with an employee’s FMLA rights. That exposure can lead to Department of Labor complaints and liability for lost compensation or other damages. AbsenceSoft automates required notices and tracks deadlines automatically, so your team never has to rely on manual reminders or calendar flags to stay compliant.
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There is no bright line in the law, but the standard is clear: contact should be limited to what is genuinely necessary. According to AbsenceSoft research, a third of employees said being contacted too much contributed to a poor leave experience. At the same time, a similar share said too little contact was the problem. The best approach is to ask employees about their preferences before leave begins and document those preferences in your leave management system.
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Yes, and it is one of the most commonly overlooked compliance risks in leave management. Managers are often the first point of contact when an employee needs leave, and they handle a significant amount of communication on the front end of the process. According to AbsenceSoft research, 42% of HR leaders cited managers who do not understand how to handle requests as a top leave challenge. Regular training, combined with a platform that prompts and guides managers through the process, significantly reduces that risk.
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Every notice, form, and communication should be stored in a centralized case file and tied to a specific employee and leave event. Relying on email threads, shared drives, or handwritten notes creates gaps that are difficult to defend if a complaint arises. AbsenceSoft automatically logs every communication, stores all documentation in one case file, and maintains a complete audit trail so your team is always prepared, whether an audit comes tomorrow or two years from now.