Cite as: 535 U. S. 81 (2002)
Opinion of the Court
lawful for an employer to "interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of" these rights, § 2615(a)(1), and violators are subject to consequential damages and appropriate equitable relief, § 2617(a)(1).
A number of employers have adopted policies with terms far more generous than the statute requires. Congress encouraged as much, mandating in the Act's penultimate provision that "[n]othing in this Act . . . shall be construed to discourage employers from adopting or retaining leave policies more generous than any policies that comply with the requirements under this Act." § 2653. Some employers, like Wolverine, allow more than the 12-week annual minimum; others offer paid leave. U. S. Dept. of Labor, D. Cantor et al., Balancing the Needs of Families and Employers: Family and Medical Leave Surveys 5-10, 5-12 (2001) (22.9% of FMLA-covered establishments allow more than 12 weeks of leave per year; 62.7% provide paid disability leave). As long as these policies meet the Act's minimum requirements, leave taken may be counted toward the 12 weeks guaranteed by the FMLA. See 60 Fed. Reg. 2230 (1995) ("[E]mployers may designate paid leave as FMLA leave and offset the maximum entitlements under the employer's more generous policies").
With this statutory structure in place, the Secretary issued regulations requiring employers to inform their workers about the relationship between the FMLA and leave granted under company plans. The regulations make it the employer's responsibility to tell the employee that an absence will be considered FMLA leave. 29 CFR § 825.208(a) (2001). Employers must give written notice of the designation, along with detailed information concerning the employee's rights and responsibilities under the Act, "within a reasonable time after notice of the need for leave is given by the employee—within one or two business days if feasible." § 825.301(c).
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