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What Is The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)?

This federal law provides eligible employees working for covered employers with unpaid job-protected leave to take time off for qualifying family and medical reasons. It requires that group health benefits continue as if they didn’t take the leave. Workers must be brought back to the same or a virtually identical job when they return after taking FMLA leave.

Employers are free to offer more liberal family medical leave policies, and they may be covered by similar requirements under state law or local ordinance as a business litigation lawyer can share.

Who Are Eligible Employees?

They worked for a covered employer:

  • For at least 12 months
  • For at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months before their leave
  • In a location where there are at least 50 employees within 75 miles

These limitations significantly reduce the number of possible US workers using this benefit.

What’s A Covered Employer?

Covered employers include the following according to our friends at Focus Law LA:

  • Private employers with at least 50 employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or previous calendar years
  • Public agencies, including government employers at all levels, no matter how many they employ
  • Local public and private educational organizations and schools, no matter how many they employ

These restrictions also limit the number of employees using these leaves, though state family medical leave laws may cover smaller employers than federal law.

What Can FMLA Leaves Be Used For?

Uses include the following:

  • A child’s birth or placement of a child for adoption or foster care
  • Caring for a child, spouse, or parent with a serious health condition
  • The employee’s serious health condition that makes them unable to work
  • Reasons concerning a family member’s military service, including leave related to a foreign deployment, to care for a family member with a serious injury or illness who’s a current servicemember or a recent veteran

Employees need not specifically ask for an FMLA leave, but they must provide enough information to the employer to know the leave may come under the FMLA. Notice of their need for FMLA leave should be given as soon as it’s possible and practical.

How Much Time Can I Take?

If you’re eligible, you may take the following:

  • Up to 12 weeks of leave during 12 months 
  • Up to 26 weeks of military caregiver leave in 12 months

This time need not be used in blocks, but it can be. Leave can be used at one time or at different times, including reducing upcoming workweeks. A reduced schedule for a parent who wants time to bond with a newborn or newly placed child is allowable only with an employer’s permission.

What Are Some Employee Protections Under The FMLA?

Employees seeking or using FMLA leave have the following rights:

  • To return to work at the same or to an equivalent job 
  • Receiving the same pay, benefits, and other employment terms and conditions 
  • At the end of their FMLA leave

An employer cannot retaliate against an employee who uses or asks to use FMLA leave. This includes threatening, discriminating against, punishing, suspending, or firing the employee.  

How Is The FMLA Enforced?

The federal Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division administers and enforces the FMLA for most employees. Employees who believe their FMLA rights are violated may file a complaint with the agency or a lawsuit against their employer.

Contact your attorney if you have questions about the FMLA or related state statutes or are concerned you may be the subject of a future complaint or lawsuit.