Through the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) employees can take reasonable leave from their jobs under certain conditions and for prescribed amounts of time for personal or family medical needs. FMLA provides unpaid time off for families to adjust to the birth of a child or to care for a child after the adoption of a child. Individuals are also permitted to take leave to care for an ill family member or spouse. Additionally, if the employee is himself or herself personally suffering from a serious health condition that prohibits the employee from returning to work, he or she is permitted to take leave under FMLA. It is applicable to “all public agencies, all public and private elementary and secondary schools, and companies with 50 or more employees,” according to the Department of Labor. FMLA requires that all such parties extend this type of leave to employees for up to 12 weeks each year if any of the stated reasons should apply. FMLA specifically prescribes the following requirements for qualifying leaves:
Employers must have 50 or more employees in their business to qualify
Employees must have 12 months consecutive full time employment and must have worked at least 1,250 hours within the previous 12 months
Employees are entitled to 12 weeks unpaid leave
Leaves are approved for personal medical needs (pregnancy or serious medical conditions) or family medical needs (caring for sick family member, bonding with new baby)
Leaves must be completed during a 12 month period of time
Leave extensions may be permitted under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The Family and Medical Leave Act was designed to provide employees with job security in the time that they need to spend away from work for specified reasons. It provides for continued health insurance coverage under the same terms that an employee was provided before they took leave, as well.
Not all employers are required to provide FMLA. If you are being told by your employer that your place of employment is exempt, you may want to speak to the FMLA claim lawyers at Miller Law Firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana today who can evaluate your situation. If you do qualify for FMLA, but your FMLA was denied, or you were fired, demoted, or disciplined for taking entitled leave, you may be entitled to make a FMLA claim under the law.
FMLA also only applies in certain circumstances. These include:
- The birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child in your home
- Your own serious health condition that requires you to take leave from work
- A family member’s serious health condition that requires you to take leave from work to care for your loved one
- Time off to accommodate a family member’s military deployment
- Time off to care for a family member seriously injured in military service
If you have requested a leave and were denied leave by your employer or were demoted or fired after your return to work, your rights may have been violated. If this is your situation, you require the services of an experienced employment lawyer at Miller Law Firm. Please contact us at your first opportunity to learn about our extensive experience in employment law and to share your situation with us. We will gladly evaluate the facts of your case and determine how we may be able to protect your employee rights. Our FMLA claim attorneys in Baton Rouge, Louisiana may be able to help you.
