Introduction: what is a fitness for duty (FFD) certification?
Fitness for duty certifications are written statements from health care providers confirming that employees are able to resume work after they complete medical leaves. Employers are not required to request FFD certifications but may do so if they have concerns that an employee may be unable to safely or successfully perform their essential job functions after they return to work. This usually happens when jobs are physically or mentally demanding. Depending on the reasons for medical leave, a request for a FFD certification may require a healthcare provider to evaluate an employee’s physical or mental abilities to perform jobs.
Under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), employers must specifically state in FMLA designation notices that employees must provide a FFD certification. Unless employers direct Cocoon not to do so, the FMLA designation notices that Cocoon sends for medical leaves will instruct employees to provide a FFD certification as a condition of resuming work. Employees must then work with their healthcare providers to obtain and upload the FFD certification to their Cocoon Dashboard. Employees should upload those certifications immediately before or upon returning to work. If employees fail to provide the required FFD certification, employers may refuse to allow employees to resume work.
What is the healthcare provider’s role in evaluating “fitness for duty” and what must the FFD certification state?
Medical providers evaluate the employee's medical condition and provide clearance for their return to work. In some instances, a medical provider might recommend accommodations to support the employee in their role (which may trigger reasonable accommodation obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or similar state or local laws).
Employers can ask employees to have their healthcare providers complete a specific form to confirm fitness for duty. However, under the FMLA, employees need not use such a form and a FFD certification can be a simple doctor’s note confirming the employee’s ability to resume work.
In some situations, the FMLA does permit employers to require a fitness-for-duty certification that addresses an employee's ability to perform the essential functions of the employee's job. To do so, the designation notice must advise employees of this expanded certification requirement and include a list of the employee’s essential job functions. If the employer satisfies these requirements, the employee's healthcare provider must certify that the employee can perform the identified essential functions of his or her job.
The FMLA and ADA both require that a FFD certification be narrowly tailored in scope – it may only address the particular health condition that caused the employee's need for medical leave. Employers should not request or expect healthcare providers to provide details about the employee’s medical condition or treatment. Under the FMLA, the FFD certification is directed at confirming the employee’s present ability to resume work, and employers are not permitted to request a second opinion of a FFD certification.
Employers may delay restoration to employment until an employee submits a required FFD certification and the employer provides the required notice (again, Cocoon will include this notice unless an employer opts out of this process). Employees who do not provide required FFD certification or request additional FMLA leave, are no longer entitled to reinstatement under the FMLA.
How does Cocoon help facilitate the FFD process?
Cocoon takes care of the required step of advising employees in FMLA designation notices of their need to provide a FFD certification as a condition of returning to work. Cocoon also simplifies the process of receiving the required FFD certification by facilitating the collection of FFD certifications from employees upon their return to work. We make the submission process simple for employees, and let you, the employer, easily view completed forms at any time in Cocoon.
After an employee’s medical leave is approved, they will receive a designation notice informing them of their obligation to submit a FFD certification. Thereafter, they will see a task to submit their FFD certification on their Your tasks tab marked as “Start later.” Cocoon will also send an email notice informing employees of this task.
Two weeks and again seven days before the employee’s set medical leave end date, Cocoon reminds them via email to complete their FFD certification and ensure their leave dates in Cocoon are accurate.
From their Your tasks list, the employee can download the our standard FFD form, complete it with their medical provider, and re-upload it to Cocoon
Once an employee submits their FFD certification, Cocoon will notify you via email, and you can view the completed form in Cocoon
If Cocoon does not receive an FFD certification upload two days prior to the end of the employee’s medical leave, we will send an email to the employer to allow them time to coordinate appropriately with their employee.
What happens if an employee doesn’t submit a fitness for duty certification before they return to work?
The FMLA states that an employer may have a uniformly-applied policy or practice that requires all similarly-situated employees (i.e., same occupation, same serious health condition) who take leave for such conditions to obtain and present certification from the employee's health care provider that the employee is able to resume work. If employees fail to provide the required certification, you can delay or deny job restoration.
As the FMLA rules notes, employers are not legally required to require a FFD certification for all employees and positions. You will need to decide for which positions and leaves (based on the type of medical leave) it makes sense to require FFD certifications. While Cocoon will request a FFD certification from all employees returning from medical leave, you will need to make some judgments about the positions and leaves for which you should enforce this requirement.
Are employees required to use Cocoon’s FFD template?
No. Cocoon provides a standard template for you and your team's convenience, but employees are welcome to use alternative forms. If you prefer employees use your company's own specific FFD certification template, you should review it with your legal counsel. Please note that Cocoon cannot customize the template we make available for download in our platform.