Family and Medical Leave
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) applies to all employers of
fifty or more employees. The benefits of the Act are available to all employees
who have been working for an employer for at least twelve months and who
have provided at least 1,250 hours of service during the twelve months before
leave is requested. Such a covered employee is entitled to twelve weeks of unpaid
leave during a twelve month period for any of the following reasons:
•
the serious health condition of a spouse, child or parent;
•
the employee’s own serious health condition; or
•
the birth, adoption or foster care of a child.
An employer may first require an employee to use her paid vacation, personal or
sick leave for any part of the twelve weeks. The requirements of the FMLA apply
to both male and female employees. An employee who returns to work
following a twelve week FMLA leave must be returned either to the same
position or to an equivalent position in terms of pay, benefits and other
conditions of employment. The FMLA does provide a limited exception for
employees in the highest-paying 10% of that particular employer’s workforce, if
reinstating those workers would cause “substantial and grievous economic
injury” to the employer’s business.
Please note that many state laws, such as the pregnancy and disability
discrimination laws of New York city and state, prohibit adverse employment
actions against employees of companies with 4 or more employees, who are out
on, or just came back from, reasonable length maternity (disability) leaves. The
fact that your company does not employ 50 or more individuals does not mean
that you are ineligible for maternity leave. Please check with a local expert in
your workplace’s jurisdiction to determine the applicability of your local laws to
your family or medical leave situation.
