FMLA: Knowing Your Rights When Taking Medical Leave

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law that entitles eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave every year to take care of themselves and their family members. While there are restrictions on when eligible employees can take FMLA leave, when employees request leave in accordance with the FMLA, their employers cannot interfere with their choice to take time off from work.

Unfortunately, employer interference with FMLA leave is still all too common. Whether intentional or inadvertent, this interference can have significant physical, emotional and financial consequences for employees and their families. With this in mind, it is important to make sure you have a clear understanding of your rights under the FMLA—and to seek help enforcing these rights when necessary.

When Employees Are Entitled to Take FMLA Leave

We’ll start with discussing when employees are entitled to take leave under the FMLA. First, to be entitled to FMLA leave, you must work for a “covered” employer. Covered employers include:

• Federal, state and local agencies; and,
• Private-sector employers that “employ 50 or more employees for at least 20 workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year.”

If you work for a covered employer, you must next determine if you are an “eligible” employee. You are an eligible employee if you meet all three of the following requirements:

• You have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months prior to the start of your FMLA leave (an average of 24 hours per week);
• You work at a location where your employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles; and,
• You have worked for your employer for at least 12 months (this does not have to be consecutive).

There are exceptions that apply in certain circumstances, but these are the general rules. If you work for a covered employer and you are an eligible employee, then you are entitled to take FMLA leave under the following circumstances:

• “[F]or the birth of a son or daughter, and to bond with the newborn child;
• “[F]or the placement with [you] of a child for adoption or foster care, and to bond with that child;
• “[T]o care for an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent . . . ) with a serious health condition;
• “[T]o take medical leave when [you are] unable to work because of a serious health condition; or
• “[F]or qualifying exigencies arising out of the fact that [your] spouse, son, daughter, or parent is on covered active duty or call to covered active duty status as a member of the National Guard, Reserves, or Regular Armed Forces.”

In each of these scenarios, employers are legally required to approve FMLA leave for eligible employees. Employees are generally required to provide 30 days’ notice of their intent to take FMLA leave, though advance notice is not required in emergency situations.

Even if granting FMLA leave is inconvenient, employers cannot interfere with their employees’ statutory rights. This includes making employees feel guilty about taking leave or pressuring them to continue working for a period of time (or to perform work while on leave). For example, if your spouse or partner has just given birth to a child, your employer generally cannot suggest that you continue working for a week to complete a project before taking time off to bond with your newborn child.

Employees’ Rights While on FMLA Leave

Let’s say you take leave under the FMLA. What are your legal rights while you are away from your job? Eligible employees’ rights under the FMLA include:

1. The Right Not to Work

When you are on FMLA leave, you have the right not to work. While your employer may ask you to perform simple tasks, such as telling a coworker where they can find certain information (if this does not require a significant amount of effort on your part), it cannot ask you to perform any significant job-related responsibilities.

2. The Right to Take Intermittent Leave if Necessary

You do not have to use all 12 weeks of your annual FMLA leave all at once. If necessary, you have the right to take intermittent leave to take care of yourself or your loved one.

3. The Right to Privacy

While employers generally have the right to request the information they need to determine if an employee qualifies for FMLA leave, they must otherwise respect their employees’ right to privacy. Your employer cannot pry about your (or your loved one’s) medical condition while you are on leave.

4. The Right to Take Work on the Side

Unless your employer prohibits employees from working on the side generally, you have the right to take work on the side while you are on FMLA leave. Since FMLA leave is unpaid, many employees need to find a way to keep up with their bills while they are not working full-time.

5. The Right to Return to Your Job (or an Equivalent Job) When Your Leave Ends

When you are ready to return to work (or when your 12 weeks of FMLA leave end), you have the right to return to your old job or an “equivalent” job at your company. As the U.S. Department of Labor explains, “[a]n equivalent job means a job that is virtually identical to the employee’s original job in terms of pay, benefits, and other employment terms and conditions.”

The one major exception is if the termination of your position is unrelated to your time off from work. For example, if your employer conducts a legally compliant reduction in force while you are on FMLA leave, being on leave generally will not protect your job in this scenario.

Speak with a Philadelphia FMLA Lawyer in Confidence

Do you need to know more about your rights when taking leave under the FMLA? Or, do you need to know what to do after your employer has violated your rights under the FMLA? If so, we can help. To speak with a Philadelphia FMLA lawyer at Murphy Law Group in confidence, please call 267-273-1054 or request a free consultation online today.