Employees are responsible for notifying their employers that a qualifying event has occurred for which leave is needed. This notification can be verbal and need not specifically refer to the FMLA, but it must provide enough information to alert the employer that the FMLA might apply. Calling in sick, by itself, is not sufficient notification. If the need for leave is foreseeable, such as a birth or planned medical treatment where at least the approximate leave dates are known, employees can be required to provide thirty days’ advance notice. Failure to provide adequate notice when the need for leave is foreseeable can result in delay of the leave until the thirty-day notice requirement is satisfied. If the need for leave is not foreseeable, such as when a serious health problem emerges suddenly and without warning, employees are responsible for providing notice “as soon as practicable.” The DOL expects employees to comply with their employers’ usual and customary notice and procedural requirements for requesting leave, absent unusual circumstances. But with serious medical emergencies, notification might be made during, or possibly after, periods of absence. Likewise, employers’ requirements for written notification of the need for leave cannot be enforced in emergency medical situations. When leave is needed for planned medical treatment(s), employees should consult with their employers regarding the timing and attempt to schedule at a less disruptive time.