When Work and Life Collide
Under the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), qualified employees are entitled to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave annually to provide health care for themselves or for an immediate family member. In addition, under the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008, the FMLA rules have been amended to permit "a spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin" to take up to 26 weeks of leave to care for a "member of the Armed Forces, including a member of the National Guard or Reserves, who is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy, is otherwise in outpatient status, or is otherwise on the temporary disability retired list, for a serious injury or illness." If you have questions or concerns about your rights to leave and job protection under FMLA guidelines, the employee rights attorneys at Watson & Norris, PLLC, in Jackson, Mississippi, are ready to help you.
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To qualify as a covered employee under FMLA law:
- You are required to have worked for the same employer for the previous 12 months
- You are required to have worked at least 1,250 hours in the previous 12 months
- You must be employed by
— a private employer who employs 50 or more workers within a 75-mile radius for 20 weeks in the calendar year and is engaged in interstate commerce
— a federal, state or local government or agency
Employers are required to give employees adequate notification of their FMLA rights, and sometimes FMLA complaints arise when an employer simply doesn't let an employee know that he or she can file.