The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year.
Eligibility: You must work for an employer with 50+ employees (within 75 miles), have worked there for 12+ months, and have 1,250+ hours in the past year.
Qualifying reasons:
• Your own serious health condition
• Caring for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition
• Birth and bonding with a new child
• Placement of a child for adoption or foster care
• Military family leave
Your rights under FMLA:
• Return to the same or equivalent position after leave
• Continued health insurance during leave
• Protection from retaliation for requesting or using leave
• Intermittent leave when medically necessary
Common violations: Firing someone for taking FMLA leave, counting FMLA absences against attendance policies, refusing to restore position after leave, discouraging employees from taking leave.
Sources: Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601–2654; DOL Wage and Hour Division FMLA guidance at dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla.