If you are facing a serious medical diagnosis and worry about your job, you may want to consider the protections afforded under the Family Medical Leave Act or FMLA. The entitlements granted under this grants protections when you need them most.
To find out if you qualify for relief under the FMLA, consider some of its provisions.
Who is FMLA for?
FMLA allows a worker at a qualified employer to take time off without pay to either recover from a medical condition or take care of an immediate family member. Employees deemed eligible under the details of the act may take up to 12 weeks off in a year without pay and without fear that the company will let them go. Some of the conditions you may use FMLA for include the following:
- The birth or adoption of a child
- Recovering from an illness
- Caring for a spouse, child or parent
- Caring for a military spouse or child who has returned with injuries
Are you eligible?
There are eligibility requirements for taking FMLA. You must work for a company that employs a minimum of 50 people. Any government entity falls under FMLA. Next, you must prove that you worked at least 1250 hours in the company over the previous year.
Needing to take time away from work to tend to your health needs or those of someone you love should not leave you worried about whether you have a place to return to. Safeguarding yourself from dismissal due to a qualifying condition is the reason FMLA came to pass in the first place.
