Family/Medical Leave

1. What rights do family/medical leave laws provide?

Federal and state law provides certain employees with the right to take an unpaid leave from work to care for a family member who has a serious health condition. The federal law is the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA):

If you qualify for a family/medical leave under these, your employer:

• may not fire you for taking up to 12 weeks of leave
• must give you back the same or equivalent job (same pay, benefits and working conditions) after your leave; and
• must continue to pay for your health insurance benefits-if you have them- during your leave.

Family/medical leave laws also make it illegal for your employer to interfere with your right to take a family/medical leave, to harass you for taking a family/medical leave, to deny a valid leave request, or to refuse to hire or promote you because you have taken or will take a family/medical leave. It is also illegal for your employer to retaliate against you for requesting a family/medical leave or for complaining about a violation of family/medical leave laws.

Another federal law, The Americans with Disabilities Act, also prohibits your employer from discriminating against you because your employer believes you will have to miss work in order to care for a family member with a disability.

2. Are you covered under family/medical leave laws?

You must meet all of the following conditions to be covered by the family/medical leave laws:

• you have worked for your employer for at least 12 months (even on a part-time or temporary basis),
• you have worked at least 1,250 hours (an average of 26 hours per week) during the 12 months before the leave,
• your employer employs at least 50 people within a 75-mile radius of your worksite and you need time off from work to care for a parent, child, or spouse who has a serious health condition. (Time off from work for your own serious health condition, for pregnancy or parental care, or for the birth, placement for adoption of a child is also covered by family and medical leave laws.)

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