Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. The statute also prohibits employers from interfering with those rights or retaliating against employees for exercising such rights.

Under FMLA, eligible employees are entitled up to 26 workweeks of leave to care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness. Eligible employees are also entitled up to twelve (12) work weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period for of the following: 

• Any serious health condition that renders an employee unable to perform job functions;
• The birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child;
• Care for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition; and 
• Certain qualifying military exigencies.

Do You Qualify for FMLA Protections

FMLA protections are only granted to those eligible employees that work for a covered employer. To be covered, private employers must have 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius from the work-site, and most public agencies. To be eligible, employees must have worked for a covered employer for at least 12 months and at least 1,250 hours during the prior 12-month period. A serious health condition is any illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition involving inpatient care or continuing treatment by a health care provider.

Employees Need to Know Their Rights

The FMLA prohibits employers from interfering, restraining, or denying an employee’s exercise of their earned FMLA rights, nor may employers retaliate against an employee for exercising their protected rights. Employer interference occurs when an employer denies or impedes an employee from their statutory entitlement and may manifest as a refusal to designate an employee’s qualified leave as FMLA, denying reinstatement after protected leave, discouraging an employee from taking leave, and terminating employment while the employee is on approved FMLA leave without legal justification. Employers are prohibited from discharging or otherwise discriminating against an employee in retaliation for opposing FMLA-prohibited practices

The FMLA guarantees reinstatement to the same or an equivalent position upon return from leave. Retaliation against an employee for taking qualified leave may manifest as termination of an employee shortly after returning from leave, demotion or reassignment of an employee upon reinstatement from FMLA leave, negative performance reviews following leave usage, reduction in hours or compensation after medical leave, and increased disciplinary scrutiny post-leave. Te

How We Can Help

If you have been denied your Family Medical Leave Act benefits or feel you have been discriminated against in any way because of your pregnancy, talk to an experienced employment litigation attorney at Valli  Kane & Vagnini. Our FMLA lawyers offer more than 40 combined years of experience representing clients in cases involving workplace discrimination and violations of federal and New York state labor laws. We have represented employees in thousands of trials and mediations involving discrimination and the denial of workers’ rights.

Additional resources you may find helpful:

• Department of Labor FMLA Fact Sheets
  • The Family Medical Leave Act
  • Protection for Individuals under the FMLA
• EEOC Guidance on FMLA, ADA, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964