According to the United States Department of Labor’s Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), employers who are covered under specific stipulations must grant their entitled employees twelve weeks total of unpaid leave throughout any twelve-month time frame for one or more of the following reasons:
- The delivery and care of an infant of the employee.
- The care of an immediate member of the employee’s family, such as, spouse, parent, or child with a serious health problem.
- The placement of an employee’s adopted child.
- The medical leave of an employee who is not able to work because of severe health conditions.
An employee may make use of the twelve weeks of Family and Medical Leave Act time off sporadically but only under certain permitted conditions.
An employee, who leaves his position because of the Family and Medical Leave Act, is permitted to keep his or her health care coverage. An employee who utilizes the FMLA unpaid leave is allowed to pay the employee portion of the health insurance premiums on schedule or pay upon returning to work.
When the employee returns from FMLA leave, he or she must be returned to the same position or to a similar position with equal benefits, wages, standing, and other stipulations and circumstances of employment.
The employee who requests family and medical leave must provide notice of his or her intention no less than thirty days before leave is to start or, in some cases of emergencies, as soon as the employee is able.
An agency can require medical documentation for FMLA leave that the employee takes to care for a spouse, child, or parent who has a severe medical condition or for the employee’s own severe medical condition. The Reddy Law Firm, P.C., one of the well known experienced employment law firms in Atlanta, can help employers and employees better understand the complex labor laws of Georgia.
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