worrying about keeping your job may add to an already difficult situation.
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) may be able to help. Whether you are unable to work because of your own serious health condition, or because you need to care for your parent, spouse, or child with a serious health condition, the FMLA provides unpaid, job-protected leave. Leave may be taken all at once, or may be taken intermittently as the medical condition requires.
This guide provides a simple overview of how the FMLA may benefit you. In your time of need, sometimes you just need time.
Who Can Use FMLA Leave?
In order to take FMLA leave, you must first work for a covered employer. Generally, private employers with at least 50 employees are covered by the law. Private employers with fewer than 50
employees are not covered by the FMLA, but may be covered by state family and medical leave laws. Government agencies (including local, state and federal employers) and elementary and
secondary schools are covered by the FMLA, regardless of the number of employees.
If you work for a covered employer, you need to meet additional criteria to be eligible to take FMLA leave. Not everyone who works for a covered employer is eligible. First, you must have worked for your employer for at least 12 months. You do not have to have worked for 12 months in a row (so
seasonal work counts), but generally if you have a break in service that lasted more than seven years, you cannot count the period of employment prior to the seven-year break.
Second, you must have worked for the employer for at least 1250 hours in the 12 months before you take leave. That works out to an average of about 24 hours per week over the course of a year.
Lastly, you must work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles of your worksite. So even if your employer has more than 50 employees, if they are spread out and
there are not 50 employees within 75 miles of where you work, you will not be eligible to take FMLA leave.
When Can I Use FMLA Leave?
If you work for an employer that is covered by the FMLA, and you are an eligible employee, you can take up to 12 weeks of FMLA leave in any 12-month period for a variety of reasons, including:
Serious Health Condition
You may take FMLA leave to care for your spouse, child or parent who has a serious health condition, or when you are unable to work because of your own serious health condition.
The most common serious health conditions that qualify for FMLA leave are:
1) conditions requiring an overnight stay in a hospital or other medical care facility;
2) conditions that incapacitate you or your family member (for example, unable to work or attend school) for more than three consecutive days and require ongoing medical treatment
(either multiple appointments with a health care provider, or a single appointment and follow-up care such as prescription medication);
3) chronic conditions that cause occasional periods when you or your family member are incapacitated and require treatment by a health care provider at least twice a year; and
4) pregnancy (including prenatal medical appointments, incapacity due to morning sickness, and medically required bed rest).
Military Family Leave
The FMLA also provides certain military family leave entitlements. You may take FMLA leave for specified reasons related to certain military deployments. Additionally, you may take up to 26 weeks
of FMLA leave in a single 12-month period to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness.
What Can the FMLA Do for Me?
If you are faced with a health condition that causes you to miss work, whether it is because of your own serious health condition or to care for a family member with a serious health condition, you
may be able to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected time off under the FMLA.
If you take FMLA leave, your employer must continue your health insurance as if you were not on leave (you may be required to continue to make any normal employee contributions). As long as you are able to return to work before you exhaust your FMLA leave, you must be returned to the same job (or one nearly identical to it). This job protection is intended to reduce the stress that you may otherwise feel if forced to choose between work and family during a serious medical situation.
Time off under the FMLA may not be held against you in employment actions such as hiring, promotions or discipline. You can take FMLA leave as either a single block of time (for
example, three weeks of leave for surgery and recovery) or in multiple, smaller blocks of time if medically necessary (for example, occasional absences due to diabetes). You can also take leave on a
part-time basis if medically necessary (for example, if after surgery you are able to return to work only four hours a day or three days a week for a period of time). If you need multiple periods of leave for planned medical treatment such as physical therapy appointments, you must try to schedule the treatment at a time that minimizes the disruption to your employer.
FMLA leave is unpaid leave. However, if you have sick time, vacation time, personal time, etc., saved up with your employer, you may use that leave time, along with your FMLA leave so that you continue to get paid. In order to use such leave, you must follow your employer’s normal leave rules such as submitting a leave form or providing advance notice. Even if you don’t want to use your paid
leave, your employer can require you to use it during your FMLA leave. For example, if you are out for one week recovering from surgery, and you have two weeks of paid vacation saved up, your
employer can require you to use one week of your vacation time for your FMLA leave. When you use paid leave for an FMLA-covered reason (whether at your request or your employer’s), your leave
time is still protected by the FMLA.
How Do I Request FMLA Leave?
To take FMLA leave, you must provide your employer with appropriate notice. If you know in advance that you will need FMLA leave (for example, if you are planning to have surgery or you are
pregnant), you must give your employer at least 30 days advance notice. If you learn of your need for leave less than 30 days in advance, you must give your employer notice as soon as you can (generally either the day you learn of the need or the next work day). When you need FMLA leave unexpectedly (for example, if a family member is injured in an accident), you MUST inform your employer as soon as you can. You must follow your employer’s usual notice or call-in procedures unless you are unable to do so (for example, if you are receiving emergency medical care).
While you do not have to specifically ask for FMLA leave for your first leave request, you do need to provide enough information so your employer is aware it may be covered by the FMLA. Once a condition has been approved for FMLA leave and you need additional leave for that condition (for example recurring migraines or physical therapy appointments), your request must mention that condition or your need for FMLA leave. If you don’t give your employer enough information to know that your leave may be covered by the FMLA, your leave may not be protected.
You do not have to tell your employer your diagnosis, but you do need to provide information indicating that your leave is due to an FMLA-protected condition (for example, stating that you have been to the doctor and have been given antibiotics and told to stay home for four days).
For more information, please visit (source) http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/employeeguide.pdf
Best Regards,
Mike
Law Office of Michael J. Winer, P.A.
phone: (813) 224-0000
telefax: (813) 224-0088
email: mike@mikewinerlaw.com
web site:
http://www.mikewinerlaw.com/
Board Certified in Workers' Compensation
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