| Employment & Labor Law |
| Discrimination |
| Rights: Americans Disabilities Act |
| Employment Contracts |
| Family & Medical Leave |
| Human Resources |
| OSHA |
| Sexual Harassment |
| Wage and Hour Law |
| Wrongful Termination |
Rights – Family and Medical Leave Act
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was enacted with the purpose of balancing the workplace demands with the families' needs, promoting stability as well as economic security of families, and promoting the preservation of family integrity.
Under this law, an eligible employee has the right to take a maximum of 12 weeks leave within a 12-month period for purposes of these three situations: child birth, adoption, or foster care; taking care of a spouse, a child, or a parent who has serious health condition; or employee himself/herself suffers serious health condition. For a health condition to be considered serious, it must require in-patient, hospice, hospital, home medical care or continuing physician care.
For an employee to be eligible to the provisions of this law, you must have been under the employ of the same workplace for at least one year, and worked for about 24 hours a week during the year prior to your leave. Employers, whether federal, state, or private, who employ at least 50 employees living within 75 miles of workplace are covered by the FMLA.
Guidelines Set Forth under FMLA
* If you are taking family and medical leave, you must be able to return to the same job of equivalent status or pay.
* During the leave, your employer must continue to make the same benefit contributions such as health insurance at the same level and conditions. If you do not return to work because of reasons other than serious health conditions, then your employer is entitled to collect the employer-paid portion from you.
* Depending on your agreement with the employer, it may be possible to take the leave intermittently rather than in one block, if the reason is child birth, adoption or foster care. The employer's approval is not necessary for serious health condition reasons.
* You may be required to first use all your paid-up vacation and personal leave, prior to using unpaid leave.
* The employer may require you to give 30-day notice, if practical.
You may want to seek the advice of a lawyer if your employer violates the Act. If you can prove the violation, the employer may be required to compensate you for back-pay, damages, legal fees and, possibly more important, for the expenses (up to 12 weeks) of providing care to a child, spouse or parent.