825.305 - When must an employee provide medical certification to support a FMLA leave request?

(a) An employer may require that an employee's request for leave to care for the employee's seriously-ill spouse, son, daughter, or parent, or due to the employee's own serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the functions of the employee's position, be supported by a certification issued by the health care provider of the employee or the employee's ill family member. An employer must give written notice of a requirement for medical certification (see 825.301) in a particular case, but an employer's verbal request to an employee to furnish any subsequent medical certification is sufficient. The employee must provide the requested certification to the employer within the time frame requested by the employer (which must allow at least 15 calendar days after the employer's request), unless it is not practicable under the particular circumstances to do so despite the employee's diligent, good faith efforts.
(b) In most cases, the employer should request that an employee furnish certification from a health care provider at the time the employee requests leave or soon after the leave is requested, or, in the case of unforeseen leave, soon after the leave commences. The employer may request certification at some later date if the employer later has reason to question the appropriateness of the leave or its duration.
(c) At the time the employer requests certification, the employer must also advise an employee of the anticipated consequences of an employee's failure to provide adequate certification. The employer shall advise an employee whenever the employer finds a certification incomplete, and provide the employee a reasonable opportunity to cure any such deficiency.