Family and Medical Leave Act

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, or FMLA, has been drafted and signed by the US Senate and House of Representatives primarily to grant family and temporary medical leave under certain circumstances. It has been considered by many as a landmark legislation catering to employee's rights and welfare. An eligible employee is entitled to a total of 12 weeks leave during any a 12-month period for these reasons:

1. birth and care of the newborn child of the employee,
2. placement with the employee of a son or daughter for adoption or foster care,
3. taking care of an immediate family member (spouse, child or parent) with a serious medical condition, or
4. taking medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition.

The Family and Medical Leave Act only requires unpaid leave for employers; however, an employee can be also be given appropriate paid leave to substitute unpaid leave if he/she has earned leave credits. The paid leave can then be counted against the 12-week FMLA leave entitlement if the employee is properly notified of the designation when the leave begins. An employee can also take the FMLA leave successively if he/she cannot take the 12-week FMLA leave at once; it is not required to exhaust the whole allotted time. You can also do part time work while on leave, subject to certain limitations.

As mandated by the Family and Medical Leave Act, it is unlawful for the employer to restrain an employee from working again if he/she takes an FMLA leave. The leave cannot be used as a negative factor in employment actions such as hiring, promotions or disciplinary actions. He/she must be afforded the right to work again on the same position or its equivalent, the right to get the same pay, benefits and working conditions once the employee returns from FMLA leave. In addition, an employee must enjoy the same health benefits while on leave as if the employee had continued to work instead of taking the leave.

But even with this enacted law there are a lot of eligible employees who are not aware that they can actually avail of this leave privilege or they do not want to get this privilege because they fear of any negative repercussions on their employment. You can be better informed about your protection under the Family and Medical Leave Act by seeking legal counsel from an employee relations attorney. Call the Mesriani Law Group hotline today, and we can inform you more about how you can exercise your rights provided by the foregoing act.