Unlike the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), workers who qualify to get a paid family leave to receive partial payment for the time they take off to take care of sick family members. This is the law that applies to every one of the 50 states in the U.S. if you encounter problems when seeking your rights, such as retaliation by your employer, you should protect your rights by seeking the legal representation of an experienced attorney.
Call our New Jersey employment law attorneys today to discuss your case. Here are more details about the paid family leave:
Who is eligible for the paid family leave?
You are likely eligible as most workers in the United States qualify for the paid family leave. Only a few are excluded, such as licensed ministers, teaching professions on a not-for-profit basis, and priests. Your employer will clarify everything with you if you are not sure whether you qualify for this privilege. If you are sure of your eligibility, you can go ahead and apply. The following must be met to qualify:
- Full-time employees: If you work a minimum of 20 hours per week, you are eligible to take a paid family leave if you have worked for 26 or more consecutive weeks at your place of work.
- Part-time-employees: These are the employees who work less than 20 hours a week. If you fall in this are eligible if you have worked 175 days. The good thing is that the hours do not have to be consecutive. You will look at the average schedule and determine whether you work less than 20 hours per week and whether your time has reached 175 days.
If eligible, you will be granted your paid family leave for the following reasons:
- To bond with a newborn child the first 12 months after birth or after an adoption
- If your spouse, domestic partner, parent, or child has been called to an active military duty
- Suppose a close relative has a severe health condition that requires your attention to care for them. This could be a spouse, child, grandchild, grandparent, or parent-in-law.
What is the difference between FMLA and paid family leave?
Many are a time when people do not understand what is paid family leave. It would be best to know that you do not qualify for a paid family leave if you suffer a severe medical condition. That only applies to the health condition of your family members.
On the other hand, FMLA allows employees to take time off if they suffer from a severe medical condition. As the name suggests, paid family leave is paid, and you will therefore not be required to use your usual paid time off when attending to a matter.
What to do when you have a case
An employer will not always grant you time off for your paid family leave. They can wrongfully deny you, force you first to use the sick time off, discontinue your health insurance coverage, or retaliate. If any of this happens, contact us at Sleemi Law by booking a consultation online or call directly at 973-354-2931 to protect your rights.
