Employees are starting to develop a fear that taking leave for personal reasons may be seen by their employers as a sign of disloyalty and may constitute grounds for probation or even termination of employment. Physician Dr Louis J. Nitsos notes that when there is a disconnect in communication between employer and employee regarding reasons for time off and the length of intended leave, the potential for unwarranted termination or hostility in the workplace upon the employee’s return is greatly amplified.
Authors and medical experts such as Dr. Nitsos have recently begun to wonder whether an employer may take the same course of action as law enforcement and use a GPS tracking device to track an employee who is suspected of taking unfair advantage of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Upon being signed into law on February 5, 1993, new requirements were instituted requiring larger employers to provide employees job-protected unpaid leave due to a serious health condition that makes them unable to perform their job, or to care for a sick family member, or to care for a new child.
This provides phenomenal aid to millions of employed Americans, but there are many who attempt to take advantage of the aid of the FMLA. With the threat of workplace corruption and lack of efficiency, many courts have utilized private investigators to track employees using FMLA and report their findings to the employer. In today’s information age, even private investigators increasingly use the tracking technology of GPS , thus putting them in the same legal tossup as law enforcement departments.
