A supervisor wants to terminate an employee with 10 years of service due to excessive absences. The employee has certification for intermittent leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for a chronic condition. The certification specifies an anticipated need for leave 1–3 days per month. The employee averages 6 days off per month and is close to exhausting the protected leave bank. A coworker provided to HR printouts of the employee’s social media page with photos of the employee on vacation while reporting time as protected leave.

Based on the difference between the anticipated need and actual leave taken, the employer should: