The Family and Medical Leave Act was passed by Congress in 1993.  The law is designed to care for themselves or a member of their immediate family when they have medical needs like pregnancy, chemotherapy, alzheimer’s, and more.  FMLA allows the qualified employees to take off up to 12 weeks of work in a 12-month period and not lose their job.  The employer is not required to pay the employee for the entire 12 week period, however they must keep the employee’s job.  Only companies with 50 or more employees are required to comply with the FMLA provisions.

The law itself has few provisions to hep curb FMLA abuse.  It does allow the employer to require the employee to provide medical certification to validate their need for medical leave, however many of the covered illnesses are chronic medical conditions that wouldn’t necessarily prevent the employee from continuing to work.  In these cases, employers need to use surveillance services to document the employee’s activity while they are on FMLA leave.

Surveillance can be a very effective tool at reducing FMLA abuse in the workplace, but you must exercise caution.  It is important to use a reputable investigations firm that has significant experience performing workers compensation and FMLA surveillance.  You also need to consider the employee’s medical condition and limitations to determine what activity may be observed during surveillance.

When surveillance captures evidence of an employee abusing the FMLA provisions, companies can be aggressive to terminate the employee.  Word will spread quickly among the other employees that the company has a firm stance on FMLA abuse.  This will give the company the added benefit of deterrence.

Surveillance can be a great tool to prevent employee abuse of FMLA.  Check out this video to see some examples of employees abusing workers compensation and FMLA.

The employment of private investigators is becoming an increasingly common practice for law firms, insurance adjusters and corporations.  Whether it is for litigation support, judgement enforcement or employee-related issues, the demand is on the rise for the services a private investigator can offer.  As is the case with most demands, a subsequent increase in supply has followed, making it increasingly difficult to choose a qualified professional.

There are thousands of licensed private investigators in the United States and there are thousands more working without a license.  There is also no universal training or licensing requirements so the skills and abilities of these investigators can vary wildly.  All of this makes it difficult to know how to select a quality investigator.  Asking a few basic questions can help weed out some of the potential bad apples.

First, you should ask how long the firm has been in business.  Ask if they are licensed and insured.  Don’t be afraid to ask the investigator to email you or fax you over their license and insurance to verify it is valid.  Investigators are used to doing this so if they don’t seem willing to provide it, then there may be a problem.

Secondly, it is a good idea to ask about the owner and the investigators themselves.  Find out their backgrounds that qualify them to be good investigators.  A word of caution here.  Many private investigators begin their careers as law enforcement officers.  Don’t just assume that being a police officer makes them qualified to be a good investigator.  Investigators need to have good interview skills, research abilities, knowledge about evidence collection and other skills.  Someone who worked as a patrol officer for a number of years in law enforcement may not actually have these skills, but someone who worked as a detective for a number of year at a law enforcement agency may have those skills.  So be sure to get some background information.

Next, find out how many cases they handle a year.  Smaller firms with fewer employees won’t work as many cases each year, while larger firms may work thousands of cases.  The key here is to make sure that they are in demand.  That clients use them regularly.  Be sure to find out how communication will be handled during the case.  Larger firms will have office staff prepared to update you and answer questions immediately, while smaller firms or sole proprietors will often not be able to communicate right away if they are working on another client’s case.  So determine the level of communication you want before you select an investigator.

Lastly, find out who they have done work for in the past.  Have they worked with companies similar in size and services to your firm before?  Are there highly recognizable names on their list of clients?  Be sure to ask them to provide you with a list of references.  Be prepared that this list will be hand picked by the investigator so it will likely contain clients who provide positive references.  You can dig a little deeper by asking to get references from only the past six months or within a specific industry.

It will take a bit of effort to make a qualified selection, but doing a little homework when selecting an investigative firm will save you a lot of pain and suffering.  As with anything, it is important to know what your need is and then seek out the firms that fit your need.  If you take the steps necessary to make an informed decision, you will be on the right track to building a solid relationship with a quality investigative firm.

Phenix Investigations has been a national leader in a broad range of investigative services since 1994, handling over 2,000 cases a year for a wide range of clients nationwide.  Phenix has a large staff of highly trained professionals.  Professionals with advanced degrees and professional certifications.   Contact Phenix for your investigative needs and see why it is among the most trusted and called upon firms in the nation.

http://www.phenixinvestigations.com

The case in question came out of a domestic situation between a wife and her husband.  After suspecting her husband of being unfaithful, Mrs. Villanova hired a private investigator to follow him.  The investigator suggested that Mrs. Villanova place a GPS tracking device in the glove box of the vehicle, after the investigator’s attempts to follow Mr. Villanova failed.  She placed the device in the glove box and the investigator used the GPS technology to track her husband’s activities.  The court also held that Mrs. Villanova had legal access to place the device in the glove box since she was married to the subject of the investigation.

GPS tracking devices can be used for more than tracking cheating spouses.  The device can also be used to track subjects of insurance fraud investigations, child custody cases, and much more.  You can also use the devices to track where your children are and how fast your teenagers are driving.  GPS technology has developed to the point that it is easy to use, reliable and highly effective.  Phenix Investigations has used GPS tracking technology on a number of different cases with great success.  If you’d like to learn more about using this technology to bolster your case, contact Phenix Investigations today.  www.phenixNIC.com