Los Angeles Employment Lawyer

The Family and Medical Leave Act

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 is a federal labor law that allows an employee to take unpaid leave due to a serious health condition that makes it impossible for an employee to perform his job or to care for a sick family member and to care for a new son or daughter. This includes by birth, adoption, or foster care.

The bill was authored by Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) and was among the very first bills signed into law by President Bill Clinton during his first term. The bill fulfilled a campaign promise. The law recognizes the growing demands of balancing family, work, and obligations while it promises numerous protections to workers. These protections include:

• Twelve (12) work weeks of leave per 12 months for various reasons such as
• Caring for birth, adoption, or foster care placement issues
• Caring for a sick child, spouse, or parent
• Being physically unable to perform one’s job
• Restoration to the same position upon return to work. If the same position is unavailable, the employer must provide the worker with a position that is substantially equal in pay, benefits, and responsibility.
• Protection of employee benefits even while on leave
• Protection of the employee not to have their rights under the Act interfered with or denied by an employer
• Protection from the employee from retaliation by an employer for exercising rights under the Act

In general, the Act ensures that all workers are able to take extended leaves of absence from work to handle family issues or illness without the fear of being terminated from their jobs by their employers or being forced into a lower job upon their return.

The leave that is guaranteed by the act is unpaid and is available to those working for employers with 50 or more employees within a 75 mile radius. The company must have worked for the company for at least 12 months and 1,250 hours in the previous year.

Contact a Los Angeles Employment Lawyer

If you have been improperly fired while dealing with a family event that falls under the Family and Medical Leave Act, contact Los Angeles employment lawyer Perry Smith at 1-888-356-2529.