FMLA

Many times employees are afraid that if they take an approved leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), they won’t get their job back when they return. A recent case out of the Ninth Circuit has just determined that if an employer doesn’t give you your job back after an FMLA approved leave,…

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has recently issued a memorandum requiring the federal government’s 24-hour leave without pay ((LWOP) family support policy be made available to federal employees’ same-sex domestic partners and their children. In 1997, the 24-hour LWOP policy was established while changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) were being discussed. The…

In a victory for non-traditional families, the Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division has recently issued a clarification of what the terms “son” and “daughter” mean with the effect of broadening who is entitled to leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Under the FMLA, an employee is entitled to 12 weeks of leave…

Many people these days are seeking alternatives to standard medical treatments, many of which do not involve licensed physicians. Do those treatments qualify family medical leave under the FMLA? And what if the treatments are taken in such a way that they basically constitute a vacation? No and no, says a federal district court in Massachusetts.…

Two bills were recently introduced into the United States Congress that, if passed, would have an important effect on the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Taken together, they would both expand the current effect of the bill and roll back some of the restrictions that the previous administration’s had imposed on that law. Under the FMLA,…

Under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a parent is entitled to take FMLA leave for the birth or care of a newborn child. An interesting twist on this issue was recently addressed by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (the federal appeals court with jurisdiction over the federal district courts of Florida, Georgia and…

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) contains an anti-discrimination provision that prohibits employers from discriminating against employees “for opposing any practice made unlawful” under the FMLA. However, the text of the FMLA does not contain an express provision that prohibits retaliation against an employee simply for requesting or taking FMLA leave, and aggressive employers…