Benefits Of FMLA

Benefits of FMLA

FMLA stands for Family and Medical Leave Act and it is a new law meant for allowing specific workers to ask for leave so that they can take care of their family members without risking their jobs. It also guarantees that sick workers can take a leave when they are unable to work due to their ailments. The following is an in depth explanation of FMLA.

1. Employer eligibility
For any employer to be mandated to offer leave for his or her workers, the employer should be either a state, school or a federal agency. Furthermore, private sector employers who employ more than 50 people for 20 weeks should provide the suggested leave for a worker and should hold that worker’s job. The employers can only hire temporary employees and not permanent workers for filling in the position during the period that the worker is on unpaid leave.

2. Employee eligibility
Provided a worker works for an eligible employer, the employer should provide leave to that employee when an immediate kin becomes ill. Immediate kin includes children, spouses and parents. Furthermore, if the worker has paid leave time that he or she has not cashed in, the employer could allow the worker to then use that paid time. The leave generally is 26 weeks long.

For workers to become eligible for these FMLA benefits, they should work for covered employers. In addition, they are also supposed to have worked at that particular post for a whole year and for about 1,250 hours. Furthermore, FMLA only covers workers who have worked within America or an American territory. Nevertheless, it is not a must the entire 12 months are consecutive, provided they are within 7 years. Also, if the work break was caused by a worker’s service in the Reserves or National Guard, then the employer should count months the worker worked before taking a break to join the service.

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