The Department of Labor issued an Opinion Letter Thursday that says an employee with a FMLA-qualifying condition may not use paid leave and decline to use FMLA leave to preserve FMLA leave for future use.  This will likely result in employers digging more deeply into employees’ reasons for taking paid leave.

Employees will need to be very careful about sharing medical information about themselves or family members while on paid leave if they want to preserve their FMLA leave for future use.

See: US DOL FMLA Opinion Letters Index