Family Medical Leave Act/California Family Rights Act
The Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) is a federal law that permits employees to take leaves of absence from their positions for illness or for the birth of a child. California has a corresponding statute called the California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”) that provides substantially the same rights for employees as the federal law.

Under the FMLA, an employee may take up to 12-weeks off from his or her position in the event of an illness or the birth of a child. This law guarantees 12-weeks of unpaid leave. An employee, however, may use accumulated vacation time or sick leave to receive some compensation during this period. Once the leave time has expired, an employee is reinstated to his or her old position, or to a substantially similar position.

The FMLA applies only to business with 50 or more employees. The size of the company is important because the government does not want to burden small businesses with open positions they cannot fill. Companies of 50 or more employees are better able to cope with the temporary absence of an employer by shifting employees to cover the vacancy.

Employers may be held legally accountable for violating the FMLA. If an employer wrongfully rejects the employee’s right to take leave under the FMLA, an employee may sue the employer with interference with his or her rights. Additionally, employers are prevented from discriminating against an employee who has taken time off under the FMLA. Such discriminatory actions may include the employer’s failure to reinstate the employee to the employee’s previous position, or the employer denying an employee a raise because of the employee’s previous leave under the FMLA.

If you feel your employer has violated your rights under the FMLA, or if you feel you have been retaliated against because you took time off under the FMLA, please contact our offices at (800) 968-9930 or joeyoung@joeyounglaw.com for a free initial consultation.