Employee Attendance and Medical Restrictions: When to Accommodate, Discipline or Terminate

Overview:

An employee has accumulated enough attendance points for a final warning. The supervisor wants to proceed with disciplinary action, but HR receives a medical note indicating that some of those absences may be related to ongoing treatment. Should the warning still be issued? Can the employer request additional medical information? What if the employee has already exhausted FMLA leave? These situations can leave HR caught between enforcing workplace policies and meeting its legal obligations, often with limited information and pressure to make a decision quickly.

Recent EEOC enforcement actions demonstrate how these situations can turn into serious compliance problems. In September 2026, the agency resolved a lawsuit involving an employee undergoing cancer treatment who allegedly accumulated attendance points after difficulties obtaining leave approval through a third-party administrator. In another lawsuit announced that month, the EEOC alleged that an employer terminated an employee after insisting on an unrestricted return-to-work release rather than evaluating documented physical limitations. These cases raise important questions about attendance policies, medical restrictions, communication failures, and the decisions employers make before taking disciplinary action.

For HR professionals, the challenge is knowing exactly where the employer's responsibilities begin and end. An employee's medical condition does not automatically excuse every absence or prevent legitimate disciplinary action. At the same time, exhausting FMLA leave, receiving an incomplete doctor's note, or failing to satisfy a standard attendance requirement may trigger additional obligations under the ADA, PWFA, or applicable state laws. Employers must understand when further accommodation is required, when additional information can be requested, and when attendance or performance expectations can be enforced.

This practical webinar will take participants through the difficult decisions that arise when medical restrictions interfere with attendance, scheduling, job duties, or an employee's ability to return to work. We will examine how to evaluate medical documentation, determine essential job functions, consider reasonable accommodations, manage intermittent and unpredictable absences, and address attendance violations involving potentially protected leave. The session will also explore problems involving third-party leave administrators, automated attendance systems, fitness-for-duty requirements, and accommodation requests raised after disciplinary proceedings have already begun.

Through realistic workplace examples, participants will learn how to approach situations where medical information is unclear, accommodation requests are difficult to evaluate, or managers are pressing for disciplinary action. We will discuss what HR should investigate, what questions employers may ask, which accommodation options deserve consideration, and how to document the reasoning behind important employment decisions.

Whether you are managing an employee with recurring medical absences, reviewing restrictions that affect essential job duties, or deciding how to proceed with a potentially high-risk termination, this session will help you approach those situations with greater confidence. The goal is to help HR professionals make informed, consistent, and legally defensible decisions while maintaining reasonable workplace standards and protecting their organizations from avoidable compliance mistakes.

Areas Covered in the Session:

• Recognizing when an attendance problem or medical restriction triggers a leave or accommodation review.
• Understanding how the ADA, FMLA, PWFA, workers’ compensation, and state leave requirements interact.
• Determining what medical information HR may request and how to address incomplete or unclear documentation.
• Protecting employee medical information and communicating appropriate restrictions to supervisors.
• Evaluating essential job functions and matching medical restrictions to actual job requirements.
• Assessing modified schedules, additional breaks, job adjustments, telework, leave, and reassignment.
• Conducting the interactive process and evaluating effective accommodations and undue hardship.
• Managing intermittent leave, repeated absences, late arrivals, and employee call-in requirements.
• Reviewing attendance points, automatic warnings, and discipline involving potentially protected absences.
• Coordinating with third-party leave administrators and addressing errors in attendance-tracking systems.
• Evaluating accommodation obligations when employees are ineligible for FMLA or exhaust available leave.
• Managing return-to-work restrictions, fitness-for-duty certifications, and “100% healed” policies.
• Addressing performance problems and accommodation requests raised during disciplinary proceedings.
• Reviewing attendance-related termination decisions for consistency, accommodation obligations, and retaliation risks.
• Documenting accommodation requests, options considered, decisions, employee communications, and follow-up reviews.
• Applying the requirements through practical medical-restriction, attendance, and return-to-work scenarios.

Why Should You Attend?

Medical restrictions and attendance problems are among the most difficult situations HR professionals must manage. An unclear doctor's note, repeated absences, exhausted FMLA leave, or an employee unable to return to full duty can raise questions about what the employer is legally required to do and when disciplinary action may be appropriate.

This webinar will help you navigate these situations with a clearer understanding of your responsibilities under the ADA, FMLA, PWFA, and related workplace requirements. You'll learn how to evaluate medical restrictions, request appropriate documentation, consider accommodation options, address attendance violations, and determine when an employee's circumstances require further review before taking action.

Through practical examples and real-world employment situations, you'll gain a better understanding of how to balance employee rights with legitimate business needs. Whether you're handling an accommodation request, reviewing attendance points, managing a return-to-work situation, or considering termination, this session will help you make more informed decisions, document them effectively, and reduce the risk of costly compliance mistakes.

Who Will Benefit?

This webinar is designed for HR professionals, leave and accommodation specialists, and workplace compliance personnel responsible for managing employee medical restrictions, attendance issues, reasonable accommodations, and return-to-work decisions. Professionals involved in reviewing medical documentation, administering leave, enforcing attendance policies, and making employment decisions will find this session particularly valuable. Those include:

• Human Resources Directors
• Human Resources Managers
• HR Generalists
• HR Business Partners
• Employee Relations Directors
• Employee Relations Managers
• Employee Relations Specialists
• Leave of Absence Managers
• Leave Administration Specialists
• Disability Management Managers
• ADA Accommodation Coordinators
• Reasonable Accommodation Specialists
• FMLA Administrators and Coordinators
• Return-to-Work Coordinators
• Occupational Health Managers
• Workers’ Compensation Managers
• HR Compliance Managers
• Employment Law and Compliance Specialists
• Labor and Employment Counsel
• HR Operations Managers
• Benefits Managers responsible for leave administration
• Workplace Attendance and Absence Management Specialists