Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was signed into law by President Bill Clinton after ten (10) years of lobbying by labor unions, women's rights groups, and grass roots organizations. FMLA is designed to assist employees with job security during medical hardships that may lead to extended absences from work FMLA allows employees to take up to twelve (12) weeks of unpaid leave in a twelve (12) month period. Again, this is a very in depth law and in the unfortunate event you may have to utilize it. I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the legal aspects associated with it.
Here are a few basics to FMLA;
Public employees including federal government and their agencies, U.S. postal service, states and their agencies, including schools, and public subdivisions are all eligible for FMLA. Employees must have twelve (12) months of service at the time leave begins. Service need not be consecutive or continuous.
FMLA is unpaid leave. However, The act does allow the employee to choose or the employer to require that the employee take accrued paid leave instead of unpaid FMLA leave. The only exception would be is CWA has reached an agreement with the employer during collective bargaining. Keep in mind The City of Broken Arrow and CWA have no such agreement.
Some types of FMLA leave include; Birth/Adoption/Foster Care Employee's own serious health condition, or care of a seriously ill family member.
FMLA requires seniority accrual during the leave period for purposes of vesting and eligibility in pension and retirement plans, including 40 IK.
One of the questions you may be asking yourself is what if the requirements for my former job change while I am on FMLA?
Not to worry FMLA requires your employer to give you a reasonable opportunity to participate in any training course, testing, or skills evaluation that you may have missed during your leave.
Another question that you may be concerned about is how much medical information will my employer require I provide about my serious health condition?Your employer is entitled to enough information to determine if a medical leave qualifies under FMLA. However, there is protection provided regarding your confidentiality of medical information and limits to the information that can be requested. Generally your employer will need basic information such as, the nature of the health condition, the expected duration of leave, and a statement that the condition prevents you from performing your job.
Last but not least, you may be wondering if your employer can count FMLA against your absences. Unfortunately the answer is yes, but there is good news. Any absences as a result of FMLA cannot be used against you as part of an employer attendance program, therefore it should not negatively affect employee evaluations.
