Situation A – The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
The Family Medical Act, Wage and Hour Division, under the United States Department of Labor that was enacted in 1993,necessitates that covered employers make available to employees leave that is related to work, and also unpaid for medical and family reasons that are considered fit. FMLA applies to employers with 50 or more employees, public agencies, and schools (Ford et al 2000). An employee is qualified for FMLA if they have reached 12 months of working for their employer, have worked for 1250 hours for him or her, and works where there at least 50 workers who are working for the same employer (The Family Medical Leave Act, 1993). It should be noted, however, that the leave period should not exceed 12 weeks for a period of 12 months. The conditions which enable one to benefit from FMLA are: * The delivery of a child, either a boy or girl or the placement of a girl or boy child with the employee for taking up or adoptive care (Ford et al 2000); * The care for an intimate such as a marital partner spouse, son, daughter, or parent who is very ill or injured; * If the employee has a serious health condition or injury that makes it almost impossible to do the tasks that they should do; or * For any eligible emergency that arises out of the point that an intimate such as a spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a member of the military on covered active duty or call to covered active duty status (Ford et al 2000).
Upon returning from the granted leave, an employer must ensure that the employee gets the job he or she was doing before he or she went on leave and the same amount of pay, the benefits they used to get, and must fulfill all the terms and conditions that the employer and employee agreed upon. Employers are also obligated to carry on health insurance coverage that applies to a group for