When an employee takes a medical leave of absence—whether for surgery, illness, or another health condition—employers often ask for a doctor’s note before the employee returns. But what about requiring a “full release” or “100% healed” certification? Is that legal? The short answer: not usually. A national Property management company recently settled a federal EEOC lawsuit charging it retaliated against an employee with a disability and screened out disabled workers.  Prohibiting employees from returning from a medical leave of absence without a full-duty release note from their physician and a physician-signed copy of their job description was not legal because it prohibited disabled employees from returning to work if they needed an accommodation.

Understanding the Law

Under federal law—primarily the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)—employers must be careful not to impose overly broad medical restrictions when bringing employees back from leave.

The ADA protects qualified employees with disabilities from discrimination and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations that allow employees to perform their essential job duties. A blanket policy requiring all employees to be “fully released” to return to work may violate the ADA because it ignores an employee’s right to return with accommodations.

The FMLA allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for serious health conditions. At the end of FMLA leave, employers may require a fitness-for-duty certification related to the employee’s ability to perform the job’s essential functions—but the certification cannot demand that the employee be 100% recovered if they can still do the job with or without accommodation.

What Employers Can Require

Employers can legally:

• Ask for a fitness-for-duty certification that specifically addresses whether the employee can perform the essential job functions listed in their job description.
• Require a release that confirms the employee’s ability to safely perform work duties, with or without accommodations.
• Engage in an interactive process with the employee and their healthcare provider to identify any needed accommodations.

What Employers Cannot Require

Employers should not:

• Enforce a blanket “no restrictions” or “100% healed” policy.
• Refuse to reinstate an employee who can perform essential duties with reasonable accommodations.
• Ask for unrelated medical information or condition details beyond what is necessary to determine fitness for duty.

Best Practices

To stay compliant and support a smooth return-to-work process:

1. Update job descriptions to clearly identify essential job functions.
2. Develop a consistent fitness-for-duty process that focuses on abilities, not medical labels.
3. Train supervisors and HR staff on ADA and FMLA return-to-work rules.
4. Engage in the interactive process early to explore accommodations such as modified duties, schedules, or temporary restrictions.
5. Document any communications with the employee and healthcare provider.

Bottom Line

Requiring a “full release” to return from medical leave may seem like a way to protect safety and productivity—but it can easily cross into a violation of the ADA or FMLA. The safest approach is to focus on whether the employee can perform the essential job functions, with or without reasonable accommodation, rather than insisting on complete recovery.

By balancing legal compliance with employee support, employers can reduce risk, improve retention, and create an effective return-to-work process.