The Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) and its state-law counterparts require qualifying employers to provide qualified employees with at least 12 weeks of job-protected leave in a 12-month period. The law also requires employers to maintain the employee’s group health benefits during such leave. The leave may be used for the employee’s own serious medical condition, to care for a family member with a serious medical condition, for maternity or paternity leave, or any combination of the above. The FMLA does not require employers to provide paid leave, but employees are usually allowed to apply any accrued paid time off toward their FMLA leave periods.
Generally speaking, the FMLA applies to employers with 50 or more employees in a 75-mile radius and to all elementary or public or private secondary schools. Employees qualify for FMLA leave if they have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 hours over the prior 12 months.
In addition to providing job-protected leave, the FMLA also makes it illegal to discriminate or retaliate against an employee who has taken FMLA leave.
Our firm will fight for you if your rights under the FMLA have been violated.