A guide to Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
You might currently be in a situation where you are caring for an elderly or sick parent; or you might have this situation in the future. There are some things that you need to know regarding leaves of absence in the workplace. For those of you who need to take a planned or unplanned absence from the workplace in the United States, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is the law that governs time off.
For most of us, we know FMLA as the law that comes into effect when you are out to care for a newborn. Many people do not realize that the law also covers recovering from serious illness or to care for seriously ill children, spouses, and parents.
FMLA is a US federal law that became effective in August of 1993 and provides eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave yearly, and requires health benefits to be upheld during the time of the leave. Employers with 50 or more employees must adhere to FMLA guidelines. Employees have to have been employed for at least 12 months and completed 1,250 work hours.
The provisions for the leave cover the following:
- New birth, adoption, or care of a foster child
- Handling care of a seriously ill family member or care for the employee’s own serious condition.
FMLA is particularly effective in helping employees meet the demands of work and family issues by granting unpaid leave for specific family and medical reasons.
It is always a good idea to maintain awareness of the policies that have the potential to impact your life. Knowledge is power. Make sure you read a little bit about FMLA and understand how it works. In the event that you need to take a leave, you will be glad to have this information. Additionally, your human resource representative should be very familiar with FMLA and his company’s policy. There are some employers that offer more than what FMLA mandates; but an employer is not permitted to offer less than what is federally mandated.
For additional information, including downloadable PDF materials, please check out the following websites: Here or here
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Debra Wheatman, CPRW, CPCC is the founder and Chief Career Strategist of ResumesDoneWrite, a premier career services provider focused on developing highly personalized career roadmaps for senior leaders and executives across all verticals and industries.
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