Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

Intended to empower employees to maintain a healthier work-life balance, the FMLA essentially allows eligible employees unpaid, yet job-protected, leave in certain circumstances, maintaining their health insurance coverage as applicable during the time off. This law primarily pertains to employees with recent additions to the family, including the birth of a child, adoption, or foster additions. The FMLA ensures that employees, no matter the gender, receive a minimum of 12 workweeks, or 60 days, of time off during this transition. While family additions are the most common use for the FMLA, the law also extends the guaranteed time-off to employees who must care for an immediate family member facing health issues or who are facing health issues of their own. For employees with an immediate family member in the armed forces who is seriously injured or ill, this leave extends to 26 work weeks over a 12-month period.

Although the FMLA is relatively straight-forward when compared to other laws pertaining to employment and employee rights, determining employee eligibility and your rights as the employer requires a constructive overview of the law and how it pertains to your company specifically. And our FMLA training videos provide exactly that and more.