Analysis of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in Employment Law

This report provides a detailed analysis of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in the United States, enacted in 1993. The report outlines the purpose of the FMLA, which is to provide eligible employees with unpaid, job-protected leave for qualified family and medical reasons, ensuring a balance between work and family responsibilities. It details the specific reasons for which FMLA leave can be requested, including the birth or care of a child, care for a family member with a serious health condition, or the employee's own serious health condition. The report outlines the eligibility requirements for FMLA benefits, such as the length of employment, hours of service, and the number of employees within a 75-mile radius. It also clarifies the rights and responsibilities of both employees and employers, including leave entitlements, benefits and protections during leave, and procedures for requesting and granting leave. The report further analyzes a scenario involving an employee, Thad, seeking FMLA leave to care for his adult child with substance abuse issues, assessing his eligibility based on the FMLA criteria. Finally, it suggests improvements to HR policies, such as implementing health coverage for employees. References to relevant literature are also included.

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EMPLOYMENT LAW
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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.

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 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

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go to work, whether unpaid or paid. Furthermore, the requirement of 1250 hours of work
has to be fulfilled within the time period of twelve months prior to the beginning of leave.
 50 Employees inside a 75 Mile Radius: The employers in the private sector shall be
obligated to employ a quantum of fifty employees or more inside a 75-mile radius every
single working day in the course of the previous year for the purposes of FMLA
eligibility. To the contrary, the public agencies are not considered in connection to the
rule relating to ‘50 employee’, and maximum number of federal employees are qualified
for and entitled to FMLA.
 Eligibility Notice: It is mandatory that eligibility notice has to be provided after requests
for leave has been received within the time period of five working days (Chen, 2016).
Rights and Responsibilities
Basic Leave Entitlement
The employees who are considered to be eligible and are qualified in that regard, shall be
entitled to the ‘basic leave’.
Military Family Leave Entitlement
The employees who are eligible whose daughter, son, parent or spouse may be in the
status of ‘covered active duty’, shall be able to utilize their entitlement of leave for twelve weeks
in order to discourse particular qualifying emergencies. Qualifying necessities or emergencies
may comprise of circumstances like attendance of specific military events, arrangement of
substitute method of childcare, taking care of particular legal and financial arrangements,
attendance of specific counseling sessions, and attendance of post-deployment convalescence
conferences (McRostie & Vernon, 2018).

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Benefits and Protections
During the leave, it shall be the obligation of the employer to maintain the health
coverage of the employee in accordance to any “group health plan” based on the idea that the
employee is still continuing to work. After the leave, the employees should be reinstated to their
initial or corresponding positions along with corresponding benefits, pay and other terms
regarding the employment.
Employee Responsibilities
A notice should be provided by the employees in advance of thirty days stating the
necessity to take such leave and when the necessity can be estimated. When notice within 30
days shall not be possible, then the notice should be provided by the employee as early as
possible. The employee should obey the usual call-in procedures of the employer. Adequate
information should be provided by the employee so that the employer may be able to determine
that whether the leave may be granted under the protection of FMLA. The anticipated duration
and timing must also be determined. Adequate information may be referred to the inability to
achieve job functions, inability of family member to achieve daily activities, the necessity for
hospitalization or continuous health treatment, or other relevant circumstances (Kornfeld, 2018).
Employer Responsibilities
It shall be the obligation of the covered employers to inform the requesting employees
that whether they would be eligible as per FMLA. If such employees are eligible, then additional
information should be specified in the notice along with the responsibilities and rights of the
employees. In case of ineligibility, the employer should give a reason. If it is determined by the

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employer that the leave shall not be protected under FMLA, then this particular fact should be
notified by the employer to the employee (Lee, Read & Markham, 2018).
Analysis
According to a particular purpose, that is, to provide adequate care and attention in
relation to a daughter, son, parent or spouse having a grave condition in relation to the health,
Thad, in the given scenario, shall be able to forward a request for FMLA leave for providing
adequate care and attention in relation to his adult child pursuing a treatment because of alcohol
and drug abuse.
In the given scenario, Thad should be eligible for the FMLA leave, if he has fulfilled the
following criteria:-
 12-Months of Employment.
 1,250 Hours of Service.
 50 Employees inside a 75 Mile Radius.
 Eligibility Notice.
Thad shall be able to avail the ‘basic leave’ advantages. After the leave Thad should be
reinstated to his old or other equivalent position. A notice should be provided by Thad in
advance of thirty days stating the necessity to take such leave and when the necessity can be
estimated.

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Improvements in HR Policy
The company does not maintain any plan relating to health coverage of employee. It
should maintain the health coverage of the employee in accordance to any “group health plan”
based on the idea that the employee is still continuing to work.
References
Chen, M. L. (2016). The growing costs and burden of family caregiving of older adults: a review
of paid sick leave and family leave policies. The Gerontologist, 56(3), 391-396.
Family and Medical Leave Act, 1993.
Kornfeld, S. K. (2018). A need not being met: Providing paid family and medical leave for all
Americans. Family Court Review, 56(1), 165-179.
Lee, K. S., Read, D. W., & Markham, C. (2018). The case for extending coverage of the Family
and Medical Leave Act to include a period of time following the death of a family
member for whom leave was taken. Southern Law Journal, 28(1), 27-45.
McRostie, N., & Vernon, L. (2018). Time Off is Needed: An Argument in Favor of Paid
Maternal Leave in the United States.
Parentis, I. L. (2018). SUBJECT: FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT. POLICY, 6560(1),
6560.