When you’re hurt or dealing with a medical condition, the last thing you need is pressure from your employer. Yet countless Michigan workers hear the same demand:
“Bring us a return-to-work note—then we’ll decide what to do.”

Whether you’re recovering from surgery, managing a chronic illness, or coming back from FMLA leave, the wording of that doctor’s note can make or break your rights under Michigan and federal law. A vague or incomplete note can lead to denied accommodations, forced early return to work, or even retaliation.

Michigan Law: When Return-to-Work Notes Matter

Michigan’s Legal Framework: ADA, FMLA & PWDCRA

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations and prohibits disability discrimination. Employers must engage in an “interactive process” when you have restrictions.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

Provides up to 12 weeks of protected leave for eligible employees. Employers may require a fitness-for-duty certification when you return—but only related to your specific condition.

Michigan’s Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act (PWDCRA)

Michigan’s state-level anti-discrimination law that closely mirrors the ADA but often provides even broader protections.

Common Employer Missteps

Demanding that you be “100% healed”

This is flat-out illegal under both the ADA and PWDCRA. Employers must consider accommodations and light duty if you can perform the essential functions of the job with restrictions.

Refusing to consider light duty

Even if they’ve offered light duty in the past—or to other employees—they can’t simply say “we don’t do that.”

Forcing employees back before they’re ready

Employers may not override your doctor’s judgment or pressure you to work outside your restrictions.

Retaliation after medical leave

Sudden write-ups, demotions, schedule changes, or termination after returning from leave are classic retaliation signs.

Why the Note Controls the Entire Process

Whether you get accommodation—or get pushed out—often depends on what’s written in that doctor’s note. Employers rely heavily on documentation, so the more complete and specific the note is, the harder it is for your employer to bend the rules.

A poorly written note can lead to:

• Denied or delayed accommodations
• Claims that you are unable to perform essential job duties
• Forced unpaid leave
• Termination disguised as “job abandonment”

A strong note protects your job, your health, and your legal rights.

What a Return-to-Work Note Should Always Include

Clear Diagnosis & Medical Basis—Without Oversharing

Your employer is entitled to:

• Confirmation that you have a medical condition
• The functional limitations that follow from it

Your employer is not entitled to:

• Detailed medical history
• Specific test results
• Irrelevant medical information

Doctors should provide only what is necessary to support restrictions.

Functional Limitations

These are the heart of the note.

Examples include:

• Lifting restrictions (e.g., no more than 15 lbs.)
• Ability to sit, stand, walk, kneel, or bend
• Hours limits (e.g., no more than 6 hours per shift)
• Need for breaks
• Environmental limits (heat, cold, exposure to chemicals)

Light-Duty Capabilities

If you can perform light-duty tasks, your note should explicitly say so.

Sample language that protects you:

“Employee can return to work with temporary light-duty restrictions. These restrictions do not prevent the employee from performing the essential functions of the job with reasonable accommodation.”

This prevents employers from twisting a vague note into “employee cannot work.”

Whether Restrictions Are Temporary or Permanent

Employers need timelines. Your note should state:

• Whether restrictions are temporary or ongoing
• The expected duration
• Re-evaluation dates
• Any conditions for improvement

Without this, employers may assume your restrictions are “indefinite” and refuse accommodation.

Essential Job Functions the Employee Can Perform

This part is crucial to avoid employers claiming you’re “unable to work.”

Examples:

• “Can perform customer service duties with seated/standing modifications.”
• “Can complete administrative tasks without restriction.”

If you can still do the core parts of your job, your note must make that clear.

Specific Accommodation Requests

Your doctor can—and often should—recommend accommodations such as:

• Modified schedules
• Reduced hours
• Intermittent leave
• Ergonomic equipment
• Adjusted lifting or mobility expectations
• Temporary reassignment to light duty

These requests force your employer to begin the ADA/PWDCRA interactive process.

Fitness-for-Duty Certification Requirements (FMLA)

If you’re returning from FMLA:

• Employers may require a fitness-for-duty note.
• The certification must relate only to the condition that caused the leave.
• Employers cannot ask for excessive or unrelated medical details.
• They cannot delay your return by requiring additional paperwork without legal basis.

A clean, well-documented fitness-for-duty note ensures your employer can’t improperly block your return.

The 100% Healed Myth

One of the biggest traps Michigan employees fall into is believing the phrase many HR departments throw around:
“You can’t come back until you’re 100% healed.”
This sounds reasonable on its face—but under Michigan and federal law, it’s illegal.

Why Employers Cannot Demand Full Recovery

Both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Michigan’s Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act (PWDCRA) prohibit employers from using blanket rules like:

• “You must be fully released with no restrictions.”
• “We don’t accept light duty.”
• “Come back when you’re 100% healed.”

These rules violate the ADA and PWDCRA because they:

• Ignore the employee’s actual abilities
• Skip the required individualized assessment
• Shut down the legally required interactive process
• Discriminate against workers with disabilities or temporary impairments

The law does not require you to be perfect—it requires employers to consider whether you can do the job with reasonable accommodation.

How a Proper Note Defeats the Myth

A well-written return-to-work note doesn’t just document your restrictions—it forces your employer to follow the law.

When your doctor provides:

• Your functional abilities (what you can do)
• Clear limitations
• Specific accommodations
• A timeline

…your employer must begin the interactive process under the ADA/PWDCRA.

This means they must:

1. Review your restrictions
2. Discuss possible accommodations
3. Determine whether you can perform essential job functions with support

A precise medical note makes it nearly impossible for an employer to hide behind a “fully released” rule.

Typical Scenarios Where the Myth Appears

Employee Recovering from Surgery

You may have lifting, bending, or hours-related restrictions. Employers cannot force you to stay off work simply because your recovery isn’t complete.

Employee With a Chronic Medical Condition

Conditions like diabetes, MS, autoimmune disorders, long-COVID, or arthritis often require ongoing restrictions. You do not have to be symptom-free to work legally.

Pregnant or Postpartum Employees

Temporary restrictions—no heavy lifting, more breaks, or modified scheduling—are common and legally protected. Employers cannot push you out of the workplace until “everything is back to normal.”

When an Employer Claims “We Don’t Have Light Duty”

What Michigan Law Requires

Under both the ADA and PWDCRA, employers must conduct an individualized assessment. This means they must:

• Look at your actual job duties
• Consider your specific restrictions
• Explore whether accommodations or modified tasks are possible

They cannot rely on a blanket rule like:

• “We don’t do light duty.”
• “Nobody gets accommodated here.”
• “We never change job tasks.”

If the employer has provided light duty to anyone in the past—injured workers, temporarily restricted workers, or pregnant workers—they must consider it for you as well.

When Employers Are Allowed to Say No

There are limits, and it’s important to understand them.

Employers do not have to:

• Create a brand-new position that doesn’t exist
• Eliminate essential job functions
• Transfer you permanently into a completely different job

However, employers often must:

• Temporarily modify marginal tasks
• Adjust schedules
• Reassign you to open, existing light-duty positions
• Provide reasonable workplace modifications

The line is between reasonable accommodations (required) and job restructuring that fundamentally changes the role (not required).

Using Your Doctor’s Note as Evidence

A detailed medical note can be the key evidence proving the employer:

• Ignored your restrictions
• Refused to engage in the interactive process
• Applied illegal blanket rules
• Treated you differently from other employees

When a note clearly spells out limitations, capabilities, and needed accommodations, it forces the employer to confront the law—not rely on excuses.

Protect Your Job, Your Health, and Your Future—Get Answers Today

Your return-to-work note is more than just paperwork—it’s a critical piece of evidence that protects your rights, your job, and your health. In Michigan, employers cannot demand that you be “100% healed,” cannot refuse to consider light duty without an individualized assessment, and cannot retaliate simply because you have medical restrictions.

If you’re facing pressure to return too early, being told light duty “doesn’t exist,” or sensing retaliation after medical leave, act now—not after the damage is done. Early legal guidance can make all the difference.

At Batey Law Firm, we help Michigan employees navigate these issues every day. Scott Batey has been fighting for workers across Michigan since 1996—because Batey Law is Employment Law.

Contact Batey Law Firm, PLLC

30200 Telegraph Rd., Suite 400
Bingham Farms, MI 48025

📞 248-540-6800

📧 sbatey@bateylaw.com

🌐 www.bateylaw.com

‍