I ran into an issue where my employer tried to use my vacation time in lieu of FMLA. I spoke with ESD, then emailed my bosses and explained that what they’d done was illegal & they must correct it. They still tried to act like it was my fault, but ultimately they corrected it because they realized they broke the law.

From there, I emailed them again explaining that I’d underestimated the amount of time my FMLA leave would require and that to simplify everything for everyone I would no longer be working any hours during my leave and that I would use 40 of FMLA time, 0 work hours, 0 vacation hours. Since they were notified, there’s nothing they can do.