The right to medical leave is a valuable benefit for employees that are already going through a difficult or painful experience. When eligible employees request medical leave — to care for a spouse, child, parent, birth or adoption of a child, or for a severe health condition preventing them from doing the job — they are entitled to certain rights, including job protection.
Being denied medical leave can hurt an employee’s recovery. The New Jersey employment law attorneys with the Law Offices of Usmaan Sleemi have extensive experience in medical leave pay law. They are dedicated to ensuring you get the maximum recovery for violation of your medical leave rights.
Who Does FMLA Protect?
To qualify for the Family Medical Leave Act, you are required to have worked for your employer for more than 1,250 hours over the past 12 months for a company with up to 50 or more employees.
Employers should not interfere or discourage eligible employees from taking medical leave. More so, they should not retaliate against an employee for taking a medical leave. Family medical leave can be used for a number of different reasons, including:
- Caring for a child, spouse, or parent with a serious medical condition
- Recovering from the birth of a child or spending time with a child after an adoption
- Getting treatment for a serious health condition, which may require continued or inpatient care
Is Medical Leave Paid or Unpaid?
According to FMLA, employers should allow employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid medical leave every year. The law does not require the employer to continue paying for the health benefits while the employee is on leave. However, an employer can decide to pay an employee during a medical leave, but it is not mandatory.
They should, however, follow FMLA policy to the letter. If not, an employer might violate the law in terms of employment discrimination, which is different from the paid family leave that covers employees for 30 consecutive days. They are entitled to up to 10 weeks’ leave to take care of a newborn child or a family member with severe health conditions.
Violation of FMLA law
After an employee comes out from medical leave, they should be reinstated to the same or comparable position equivalent to the former work position in terms of benefits, pay, geographic location, schedule, working conditions, privileges, and geographic location. The role should also involve similar or significantly equivalent responsibilities.
Your employer might violate your family and medical leave insurance rights regarding your leave eligibility by inhibiting you from taking the leave, pressuring you to return to work, cutting off your health insurance, and sacking you for no concrete reason. If you think that your employer is unfairly preventing you from doing the work by failing to accommodate your disability, you should talk to an experienced attorney.
Contact Our New Jersey Employment Law Attorneys
If you think your employer has violated your FMLA rights, you might benefit from contacting the New Jersey employment law attorneys at the Law Offices of Usmaan Sleemi. With years of experience, the attorneys will help you determine if the employer violated your FMLA rights and how best to assert the rights if they are violated.
