The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides guidelines for employers and employees concerning serious illnesses or injuries that require absence from work. The FMLA protects employees from losing their jobs or facing salary cuts if they take time off when they become ill or injured. The FMLA also covers leaving work to care for a loved one.
History
The Wage and Hour Division, a subcommittee of the U.S. Department of Labor, maintains the employment standards and mandates for United States employers and their workers. First passed in 1993, the Family and Medical Leave Act instructs employers to allow a worker to take up to 12 weeks off, within a one-year period, to care for a loved one. In 2008, Congress updated the FMLA to include employees who may now take off up to 26 weeks from work if they are caring for a member of the Armed Forces.
Terms
The Family and Medical Leave Act pertains only to employers who hire more than 50 full-time workers. The employee must notify his employer in advance, when possible, and provide documentation from a doctor or a health provider that details the need to recuperate from an illness or injury or care for a loved one who is recuperating. In addition, the worker must have a minimum of 12 months employment history at his workplace.
Benefits
Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the employer may not fire the worker, nor reduce her salary or benefits. The worker may negotiate a part-time work schedule with her employer during this time. However, the time off is unpaid and the worker must continue to contribute to her benefit plan in order to keep it up to date.
Conditions
Pregnancy and childbirth qualify under the Family and Medical Leave Act, but if both mother and father work for the same employer, their combined time off will not exceed 12 weeks. Minor ailments, such as the flu or a cold, do not qualify under the FMLA rules. In general, individuals must have a serious condition that results in an overnight or longer hospital stay or verifiable, ongoing treatment.
Considerations
The employer may require a doctor's note when the worker returns after a qualifying absence. Employees who work for small businesses that do not meet the criteria for the FMLA have no federal protection against losing their jobs.
