The Family Related Issues video gives insight on how the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) may or may not apply to an employee wanting to take time off under the act. In the video, Tony is looking at a picture of his father when his boss, Herman walks over and begins a conversation with him. Herman congratulates Tony for his sells of eleven cars over the weekend. Tony expresses that he wants to bring his father home from the nursing home to live with him. Herman tells Tony to accept the responsibilities of caring for his father until Tony explains that his father left him and his mother at the age of two. Herman then suggests forgetting him. Tony goes on to state this might be his last opportunity to build a relationship with his father so he asked to take three weeks off. Herman thinks this is absurd since the dealership is about to start selling the model change cars, and tells Tony if he takes the time off there might not be a job for him when he returns.
Can an employer deny an employee time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), even if a parent literally had nothing to do with a biological child in order for the child to take advantage of FMLA to care for their parent?
“When an individual is the biological or adoptive parent, there is no question that there is a parent/child relationship. There does not have to be a biological or legal relationship” (County.org).
Under the FMLA Tony is entitled to take the leave based on the leave requirements which states, “In order to care for the spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent, of the employee, if such spouse, son, daughter, or parent has a serious health condition (Halbert 2010).” Tony would be eligible for the FMLA leave even though he and his biological father had no relationship.

A business size can effect whether an employee can be eligible for the Family Leave and Medical Act.
The FMLA generally covers employers with 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks per year in the current or preceding calendar year. For example, an employer who was covered in year “A” continues to be covered during year “B” (the following calendar year) even if it fell below, and remained below, the 50 employees/20 workweeks threshold during the later part of year “A” and all of year “B.” Any employee whose name appears on the employer’s payroll, including part-time employees, is considered employed each working day of the calendar week and is counted even if he does not receive compensation for that week. Note, in addition that all “public agencies” and public and private elementary and secondary schools are covered, without regard to the number of employees. A “public agency” is the U.S. government and its agencies; a state government (including the District of Columbia and U.S. territories and possessions), its political subdivisions, and its agencies; and any interstate governmental agency (Personnel Policy Service).
In the video, Herman states to Tony that the dealership is small and everyone is crucial. Tony reminds Herman that the dealership is not small, and has more than fifty employees. This request was very important to Tony and he knew that he was in his right to request the three weeks and be granted the time off to care for his sick father.

Herman tells Tony that if he takes the time off he may not have a job when he returns. The FMLA states that an employee should, “be restored by the employer to the position of employment held by the employee when the leave commenced; or be restored to an equivalent position with equivalent employment benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment (DOL.Gov).”
Herman wants to intimidate Tony by implying that he will not have a job so that he will stay and not take the leave of absence during the model change. Herman is only thinking of profits and his dealership.

The Family Medical and Leave Act of 1993, defines an eligible employee as one who meets all three of the following criteria: (1) the employee has worked for the employer for at least 12 months (not necessarily consecutively); (2) the employee has worked for the employer for at least 1,250 hours in the previous consecutive 12-month period; and (3) the employee works at or is assigned to a worksite that has 50 or more employees or which is within 75 miles of worksites that taken together have a total of 50 or more employees. Whether an employee has worked the minimum 1,250 hours is determined by counting the actual number of hours the employee has worked in the previous 12-month period. Therefore, paid vacations, holidays, and sick leave are not counted. In addition, eligibility is determined as of the date the leave will actually begin, not when the employee requests the leave (Personnel Policy Services).

An employer can determine if an employee(s) is eligible for leave under FMLA by first making sure they understand what the law requirements are. Then the employer can request written documentation from the employee who is requesting the leave under the act. If an employee meets the requirements under the act, then a request can’t be denied even if the employer doesn’t want its top employee to leave during the model change as shown in the video.

In conclusion, Tony needs to make sure that he is properly requesting time off under the Family Medical and Leave Act to his boss Herman. Herman needs to research the law about the act since he has communicated it incorrectly. And also Herman needs to understand that Tony could bring a lawsuit against the dealership for giving false information about not having a job when he returns. Both employee and employer have a sense of responsibility to each other to follow the law and all policy and procedure correctly.