Legal Question in Medical Leave in California

Re: Diagnosis

No, you are not required and the employer may not inquire into the nature of your condition. The employer has the right to receive documentation that you are suffering from medical condition and what reasonable accommodations he may implement, but he is not entitled to know the nature of your condition.

Re: Diagnosis

Mr. Itkin is correct that you are not required to tell your employer the nature of your medical condition for FMLA purposes.

But, if you anticipate being out of work for more than 12 weeks or that your condition may require an accommodation from your employer when you return, you should consider keeping them informed about your condition because they may claim they could not accommodate a medical condition or disability they did not know existed.

There is, what we call, an interactive process that must take place, to preserve your rights, if you have a disability. This requires open communication. As a practical matter, unless there is good reason to preserve your medical privacy, I believe it serves employees well to advise the employer of their medical condition or disability and its limitations, so the employer can assess what its obligations are. And if it fails to meet those obligations, you are in a better legal position.