Session 1
Intake, Notice & Eligibility
● Recorded · Watch On Demand
Recorded live June 25, 2026 · stream anytime within your 90-day access window
The first 72 hours of a leave request decide everything that follows — and most of the damage happens before anyone realizes a law is in play. Three real cases on the calls, emails, and eligibility math that make or break the intake.
The cases
Case A
Notice and Care for a Parent
A probationary employee with a shaky attendance record calls in one morning — her mother's been rushed to the ER by ambulance and she can't work. Days later, right after she emails asking for leave to care for her mother, she's fired. Was it the attendance history, or the leave request? Both sides had an answer.
Case B
Intermittent Leave
An employee on razor-thin attendance probation gets approved for intermittent FMLA — then can't get a straight answer on how to call in. The approval letter points to a phone number that isn't there. Even HR couldn't say which line was which. When the absences pile up, who owns the confusion?
Case C
Erdman v. Nationwide · Third Circuit, 2009
She worked from home for years with her supervisor's blessing. When she requested FMLA leave, suddenly those hours didn't count toward eligibility — and she was fired before the leave ever started. The Third Circuit had thoughts on both moves.
What this session covers
→ What counts as legally sufficient notice — even when the employee never says "FMLA"
→ Eligibility traps: remote hours, intermittent leave, and call-in procedures that confuse your own HR team
→ The early intake calls that most often lead to EEOC charges
→ Documentation patterns that hold up under agency scrutiny
→ Live attorney Q&A on ADA, PWFA, and workers' comp intake questions — captured in the recording
