Situation A:
In 1993, the FMLA act, which serves the needs of families trying to balance work life and the needs of the families their working for, was established. This act was amended on October 8th, 2009 to extend entitlement rights of military caregivers.
The FMLA entitles eligible employees the ability to take off up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off within a 12-month period with the benefit of job protection upon returning to the company. The time off is subject to specific criteria that must meet federal guidelines. The website www.dol.gov lists these five leave entitlements.
· for the birth and care of a newborn child of the employee;
· for placement with the employee of a son or daughter for adoption or foster care;
· to care for a spouse, son, daughter, or parent with a serious health condition;
· to take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition;
Or
· for qualifying exigencies arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is on active duty or call to active duty status as a member of the National Guard or Reserves in support of a contingency operation.
In this situation, employee A has met the criteria for taking FLMA for a “serious health condition” for either a family member or themselves. A “serious health condition” would be one that would keep the employee from being able to perform their job or where the employee would be responsible to care for a family member or dependent. The employee also has met the minimum requirement for employment for working more than 12-months and more than 1250 hours within that 12-month period.
Upon employee A’s return to the company for employment the new manager is required to have their previous position available; however, the employee is not entitled to the 11 weeks of withheld salary regardless of any former arrangement with the former manager. There has been no violation to the FMLA policies in this