FMLA: Management of the Family Medical and Leave Act
The Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, is a federal law requiring employers to grant up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a 12-month period to an eligible employee for specific medical reasons. Those medical reasons include:
- The employee is unable to work due to a serious health condition
- The employee must care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition
- The birth and care of an employee’s newborn child
- The placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care
A qualified employer cannot interfere with the rights granted by FMLA. That’s one of many reasons why employee leasing companies are invaluable. Call PEP at 1-800-650-3002 for more information on FMLA and all other employee questions you have.
FMLA generally applies to employers with 50 or more employees. Workers are eligible for FMLA leave after they have been employed with the employer for at least 12 months.
One of the main purposes of FMLA is to give employees the right to keep their jobs, even when they are forced to take time off for medical reasons. In addition, an employer cannot use FMLA leave as a negative factor in promotions or disciplinary actions. There are a few circumstances in which you can deny an employee reinstatement after FMLA leave, but these circumstances are very narrow in scope.
The FMLA does not require paid time off, it only guarantees unpaid leave. However, if the employee has accrued paid vacation or sick leave, the employer can require the employee to use existing paid leave for some or all of the FMLA leave period. The employer must notify the employee when his or her paid leave is being counted against the FMLA leave entitlement.
If an employee needs to take FMLA leave for an “immediate family member,” the law defines an immediate family member is a spouse, child, or parent. FMLA does not consider “in-laws” as immediate family members.
