The Family Medical Leave Act Questions and Answers

What is the process of requesting FMLA leave?

The Family Medical Leave Act allows employees in organizations that have over 50 employees to be eligible to a leave from work to attend to the family matters and it is available for employees who have spent at least 12 months working for the organization or 1250 hours within the previous year. However, the organization's treatment of FMLA varies with some organizations providing additional benefits such as paid leave (Guerin & England, 2015). To be able to acquire a family leaves the employee must provide a notice of the need for leave to the employer in accordance with the organization internal rules that guide leave requests. The notice of leave to the employee may be oral or written and should include the reason for requesting a leave. The notice should be communicated to the employee 30 days in advance. Consulting with the employer in advance is important to prevent the interruption of the organization activities (Gosney, 2016).

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Upon the employers, consideration of the FMLA leaves the employer will agree to give the employee a leave if the employee reasons meet the required reasons and circumstances. It is important for the employer to provide FMLA notice requirements to the employees to ensure that the employees are aware of the requirements and the organization internal regulations in issuing FMLA leave. The eligibility of the employee for the FMLA leave depends on the employee ability to communicate to the employer in advance and also to follow the organization internal regulations (Halpern & Murphy, 2013).

What are some examples of how FMLA provides employees with job protection during their FMLA leave?

The FMLA requires employers to provide employees with a 12 to 26 week's unpaid leave which helps the employees secure their employment positions if they meet the eligibility of FMLA requirements. Within the duration of the FMLA leave the employer will maintain the employee health coverage and upon return, the employee should be restored back to their position with equivalent pay and benefits. Further, the employee benefits that accrued before the leave are maintained. The FMLA leave is very important to the employees because it protects the employees from losing their positions during the FMLA leave. Employers who refuse to restore the position of the employee can be coerced by law to retain the employee if the employee qualified for the FMLA leave. The employee who qualifies for the FMLA leave cannot be restrained by the employer and the employer cannot use retaliatory measures when an employee exercises their FMLA rights. If the employer retaliates against the employee for exercising their FMLA rights the employee can complain through the Wage and Hour Division act to make the employer accountable. The employer should provide the employees with the FMLA notice requirements to the employees in advance failure to which will be considered as an employer restraint or denial of the employee`s FMLA rights (Gosney, 2016).

What are some of the responsibilities that employees have during their FMLA leave?

During the FMLA leave the employees should maintain constant communication and cooperation with the employer to ensure an easy transition for the one holding the employee position. Further, the employee should provide the employer with the necessary information on the progress of the problem and when the employee is able to resume their duties. In case of a time extension, the employee should notify the employer and also follow the organization internal procedures at the end of the leave to ensure that the organization activities are not affected (Dungan, 2017).

References

Dungan, F. (2017). Stressing over Stress: Making the FMLA Work for Employers Amidst Rising Employee Stress Claims. Penn St. L. Rev., 122, 573.

Gosney, J. S. (2016). & SB 406: Who Wants Expanded Family Leave in California? Your Mom. The University of the Pacific Law Review, 47(3), 513.

Guerin, L., & England, D. C. (2015). The essential guide to family & medical leave, [2015].

Halpern, D. F., & Murphy, S. E. (Eds.). (2013). From work-family balance to work-family interaction: Changing the metaphor. Routledge.