Family Medical ACT Leave - FMLA
The Family Medical Act (FMLA) is a federal law that provides protection for employees who take time off for medical reasons. FMLA provides that an employer cannot terminate an employee for taking FMLA leave, and the employer must guarantee that the employee’s job remains available upon his/her return back to work.
In order to be eligible to take leave under the FMLA, an employee must:
Work for an employer which falls within the below requirements:
In order to be entitled to a FMLA leave, the employee must fill out the required paperwork and get the approval from the employer first; the use of FMLA leave is not automatic.
In California, an employee who works for an employer with at least five employees, may be entitled to job-protected leave under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) for a serious health condition or that of a family member.
The CFRA in California allows leave for qualifying reasons related to an employee’s domestic partner, spouse, child, or parent or baby bonding. It is illegal for your employer to interfere with your CFRA rights, provided that you are eligible. The Employer is not allowed to discriminate when an employee requests a CFRA leave, or is in leave or after taking a CFRA leave.
Moreover, in California, the CFRA provides job-protected leave to eligible employees faced with certain circumstances related to the addition of a new child to a family. Under CFRA, family members include sisters, brothers, grandchildren, grandparents, adult children, or partners. Moreover, serious health conditions are defined as injuries and illnesses that involve inpatient care or continuing medical care or supervision.
An employer violates the FMLA or CFRA if the employer interferes with the protected leave since the law provides for the protection of the employee’s job while on leave or upon the employee’s return.
If you have been subjected to harassment or discrimination because you have taken FMLA or CFRA leave, or if your employer terminates you while on FMLA leave, then you have a claim against your employer. Our team of employment law attorneys at Employment Rights Lawyers, APC are happy to help you. We will pursue vigorously any violations of FMLA and have successfully prosecuted numerous cases and obtained favorable results for our clients.
