What if an employee refuses FML altogether?

The employer is responsible for designating the FML, not the employee. Leave may be designated by the university as FML if you have knowledge or reason to believe a serious health condition exists (e.g., the employee is hospitalized or off work due to an occupational injury or has communicated to you that the need for leave is to care for a seriously ill family member that is medically documented). It is critical that the University designate qualifying leave as family and medical leave for a number of reasons:

1. to ensure that the employee gets the benefit and protection of the law
2. to establish that we have complied with our notice and designation obligations
3. to make sure that we are not obligated to give additional family and medical leave during that leave year simply because of a failure to properly designate the original leave