First things first: if you are an employer, you should determine whether or not your company is obligated to provide FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act).
Is Your Company Covered by the FMLA?
Number of Employees:
The FMLA generally applies to employers with 50 or more workers on payroll. This includes part time workers and any employees currently on leave. The total of 50 workers must also be on the payroll in 20 or more workweeks in the current year or the preceding year. The time spent on payroll does not need to be consecutive.
The following agencies are covered by the FMLA regardless of the number of employees: public agencies, local and federal employers, and local education agencies.
Qualifying Employees:
If you are a covered employer, all of your employees are eligible for FMLA if they have worked for you at least 12 months with a total number of hours worked during that time of 1,250 or more. Eligible employees are also required to work at a company location that has a minimum of 50 employees working within a 75 miles radius.
Granting FMLA Leave:
Employers must grant eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave annually for qualifying circumstances.
Qualifying Circumstances:
An eligible employee who requests FMLA leave will need to be experiencing one of a number of qualifying circumstances, including a serious health condition, the birth or care of their newborn child, a recent adoption or foster care placement, or the care of an immediate family member with a serious health condition. FMLA defines a serious health condition as an illness, injury, impairment, or condition that would require an overnight stay in a medical facility or ongoing medical treatment. The serious medical condition must also prevent the employee from completing their job tasks or prevent the affected family members from going to school or other routine day to day activities.
Qualifying employees who have been denied FMLA leave should get in touch with the experienced Atlanta FMLA attorneys at Barrett & Farahany so we can help. We do things differently; justice at work is not only our profession, it’s our passion.
