How2Day: FMLA Requirements For an Employer

The FMLA allows individuals to take off work to care for themselves or their family. Andrew Bret Wallis/Pixland/Getty Images
Passed in 1993, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a workplace regulation that affects all public and government employers, as well as private companies that employ at least 50 people. It allows employees to take unpaid leave from work for certain health and family situations without fear of termination or loss of benefits.

FMLA guarantees an individual employee a minimum of twelve and a maximum of twenty six workweeks of unpaid leave for covered health and family situations. It should be noted that this limit pertains to all such incidents; for example, one cannot receive twelve weeks of leave for an illness, than an additional twelve weeks to care for a ill relative. In the context of this law, a workweek is defined as five working days. For example, an individual who takes a single day off under the provisions of the law is considered to have used only one-fifth of a workweek. Additionally, the employee must have been employed for a minimum of twelve months, and have worked a minimum of 1,250 hours in the last twelve months to be covered in the provisions of the bill.

FMLA provides an employee up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child. This further includes care of a child within the first year of life, or within the first year of placement for adopted or foster children.

FMLA allows employees to take leave in order to provide care for a spouse, parent or child with a serious health problem, such as cancer or any debilitating illness. Recent revisions in the act have reclassified "child" to be any minor who is under the custody of the employee, regardless of biological or marital relationship.

In the event an employee becomes debilitated, whether by injury or illness, to the point that they can no longer perform their job functions, the FMLA allows for unpaid leave. If the employee suffered an injury on the job, she may also be eligible for workman's compensation benefits, though this is not guaranteed under the provisions of the FMLA.

The FMLA also provides unpaid leave protections for any emergency individuals are troubled with as a direct result of the active duty of a spouse, child or parent in any of the branches of the armed service. Further, if providing care for a such an individual following a debilitating illness or injury, the FMLA affords up to twenty-six weeks of leave within a single twelve month period, rather than the standard twelve.

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