The Family and Medical Leave Act (“Act”) was passed over two decades ago, and it is still relatively misunderstood. The purpose of the Act was to give workers the flexibility to care for a sick loved one without fear of losing their job. It is still a difficult dispute to overcome as employers still hold the majority of the power in an employee-employee relationship. There are many questions and concerns that employees have, to this day, concerning FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act)
To improve knowledge on how companies can comply with the Act, the Department of Labor released a comprehensive guide that outlines an employers’ obligations under the law. The goal is to allow businesses to plan for these eventualities without fear that these added expenses will burden their company.
Many employees do not realize that under FMLA, they can have up to 12 weeks unpaid leave time within a 12-month period without fearing that they will not have a job to come back to. The employer must, upon the employee’s return, put the employee back into their original job or one that is equivalent. There are many other areas and benefits that are covered by FMLA that an employee may want to be aware of.
Your rights are found in a dozen different laws spread across federal, state and local governments; it is hard to keep track of them all. If you believe that your boss is not respecting your rights, then you may want to give a lawyer a call to find out what exactly is going on. An attorney can go over your situation and help you understand the legal context of your boss’s actions. You might have an actionable claim in court or maybe you need to file a petition with a federal agency. Regardless of the situation, an attorney can bring some clarity.
