The Family and Medical Leave Act
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, or FMLA, provides for the employment protection of individuals who take a leave of absence due to family and/or medical reasons. The birth of a child is one such reason. Three important provisions of FMLA are:
• FMLA only applies to covered employers. Covered employers include private sector employers with 50 or more employees, public agencies regardless of number of employees, and primary and secondary schools regardless of whether they are public or private and regardless of how many employees they have
• FMLA only applies to eligible employees. Eligible employees must have worked for the covered employer for at least 12 months and at least 1250 hours, and must work at a facility that has at least 50 employees within 75 miles
• FMLA requires that employees be able to take off up to 12 weeks of leave for personal health reasons or to take care of a family member with health reasons. Military caregivers are eligible for up to 26 weeks of leave. Eligible employees may take off the time without pay, without fear of losing their job or taking a pay cut when they return
Situation A
In Situation A, Company X is a covered employer since it has 75 employees. Employee A is an eligible employee as he has worked for the covered employer for 2 years, presumably in a full time capacity, and presumably does not work at a remote location with fewer than 50 employees. Employee A is eligible to take up to 12 weeks off because of the medical condition of his wife and children. Under FMLA, he is guaranteed the right to return to his job at the same rate of pay. However, he is not guaranteed paid leave.
Company X is not obligated to pay Employee A for the 11 weeks he has been on leave, therefore the manager did not violate any laws by denying the request. Employee A returned to the previous job at the