FMLA Lawyers in Detroit, Michigan

Championing the Cause of America’s White Collar Workers

Safeguarding Your Rights Under the Family and Medical Leave Act

Are you concerned that you’ll be fired if you miss another day of work due to illness? Do you need to take time off to care for a new baby or a sick parent? Please contact the employment law attorneys at Huizenga & Hergt, P.C., today for a consultation. We’ll discuss whether you may be eligible to take time off from work under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Eligibility for FMLA

If the company you work for has at least 50 employees within a 75 mile radius of where you work, and you have worked at least 1250 hours during the past year for the employer, you are protected by a federal law called the Family Medical Leave Act — 29 USC 2611. This means that your employer must return you to your position, or an equivalent position, after you return to work.

The FMLA allows you to take up to 12 weeks off from work each year for the following reasons:

Your own illness, if it makes you unable to work;
Illness of a child, spouse or parent, if the employee is needed to provide them with care or psychological support;
The birth or adoption of a child or foster care placement

The illness must involve one or more of the following:

A hospital stay;
You must be incapacitated for more than three consecutive days and have had either (a) two visits to a doctor or (b) one visit to a doctor plus continuing treatment under a doctor’s supervision;
Pregnancy;
A chronic condition that requires periodic treatment;
A permanent or long term condition,
Restorative surgery after an injury;

Giving Notice of Time Off Under FMLA

The employee must give advance notice of at least 30 days if the need to take time off is “foreseeable”. If not foreseeable, the employee should give as much notice as “practicable”, which would ordinarily be at least one or two days beforehand.

The notice required under FMLA can be verbal, and the employee does not have to specifically mention the Family and Medical Leave Act by name. The employee must give the employer sufficient information to determine that the leave requested is covered by FMLA.

For high quality legal representation and responsive client service regarding FMLA concerns, contact the employment law attorneys at Huizenga & Hergt, P.C., today.