Employment Law - The Family and Medical Leave Act [FMLA]

Running head: EMPLOYMENT LAW
EMPLOYMENT LAW
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EMPLOYMENT LAW1
The Family and Medical Leave Act, 1993 (FMLA)
The Family and Medical Leave Act [FMLA], which was enforced in the year of 1993, is
a labor law in the nation of United States. This particular Act mandates that the covered
employers should provide the employees unpaid leave and job-protected leave in relation to
qualified family and medical reasons.
Purpose of FMLA
The FMLA make available to certain specific employees twelve weeks of job-secured
and unpaid leave per annum. This particular Act also makes it mandatory that the group health
benefits in relation to such employees should be maintained and continued during the time period
of the leave.
The primary purpose and objective that is followed by the FMLA is to make available to
the employees and help them to maintain a proper balance in relation to their responsibilities
regarding family and work. The FMLA allows the employees to avail for reasonable and rational
unpaid leave because of particular medical and family reasons. The FMLA pursues to
accommodate the reasonable and genuine interests of the employers and also promote equal
opportunity regarding employment for both the females as well as the males. Any particular
employee may forward a request to the FMLA in relation to the following purposes:-
 To be ready for the birth of either a daughter or a son.
 To provide adequate care and attention regarding a new baby or a newborn child.
 For placement in relation to foster care or adoption regarding a daughter or a son.
 To provide adequate care and attention in relation to a daughter, son, parent or spouse
having a grave condition in relation to the health.

EMPLOYMENT LAW2
 To take proper and adequate care in relation to the grave health condition of the
employee itself.
 To transit or shift spouses or employees who may be summoned for the purposes of
active duty.
It should be noted that medical certification shall be mandatory in certain situations
where grave conditions regarding health may limit any particular employee from carrying out the
important functions regarding their job (Parentis, 2018).
Eligibility Requirements for FMLA
There are certain requirements that must be fulfilled, if any particular employee wants to
avail the benefits in relation to FMLA. Such requirements are as follows:-
 12-Months of Employment: In order to qualify in connection to FMLA, the employment
of the employee in relation to the company should have been for a time period of twelve
months. However, it may be said that the twelve months employment of the employee
does not need to be consecutive or sequential. However, pauses or discontinuities in the
time period of seven or more years regarding service shall not be counted as the years of
service of the employee, unless the pause or discontinuity was grounded on the written
agreement or military obligations of the employee.
 1,250 Hours of Service: The employee should have worked for the company a minimum
of one thousand two hundred and fifty hours at the least, in the course of the twelve
months preceding the beginning of the FMLA leave. In order to determine the eligibility
in relation to FMLA, the ‘hours of service’ shall mean the hours during which the
particular employee has truly done his work. The leave shall not comprise of the
holidays, vacations, sick days, or any other instances where the employee was unable to