In modern families, two-income households that juggle responsibilities of work and the home are almost status quo across the United States. With this societal trend, legislation protecting a workers right to care for their family, as well as remain an employee, has somewhat lagged behind. The most expansive legislative action to address these issues, however, is known as The Family Medical Leave Act.
The Family Medical Leave Act provides employees the most protection when balancing the double task of home and work. The Act is one of the most comprehensive federal employment laws in that it affords protections for all workers, both public and private sector. This federal law provides workers a number of protections and allowances pertaining to numerous family and health related instances that commonly occur. Some of the protections of the FMLA include:
The Family Medical Leave Act covers all workers employed by companies containing fifty or more employees. To meet the requirements for being an eligible worker under the FMLA provisions, an employee must have:
Congress included a number of provisions in the Family Medical Leave Act in anticipation of specialized occupations and employment situations where the laws would cause serious problems for smaller or specialized operations. In most cases, however, modern employers adhere to a much simpler plan of granting all employees protection under the FMLA, if some of their employees are deemed mandatorily covered. Legally, however, employers are not required to do so per the provisions of the FMLA. Some of the notable coverage restrictions found in the FMLA include:
In the ideal situation, employees will offer their employer thirty days notice of leave per the FMLA if the medical or family situation is deemed foreseeable. Given the nature of illness and injury, the protections of the FMLA can theoretically begin without any advance warning by employees or approval from employers.
A number of provisions were provided for by the federal government for employees with passing of the FMLA. In short, the much-needed laws regarding time off for illness and childbirth were concretely established by the government. The Family Medical Leave Act possesses a number of provisions for workers, including: