How Long Will My Job Be Safe If I Take FMLA Leave?
If your family is growing and you will soon be welcoming a newborn or bringing an adopted or foster child into your family, you may be planning to take leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in Florida. Likewise, if you were recently diagnosed with a serious medical condition, or a spouse or other close family member recently received such a diagnosis, you might also be planning to take FMLA leave. As you might already know, Florida does not have any state-specific leave available for family or medical reasons. As such, employees in the Palm Beach Gardens area must rely on the federal FMLA unless their employer has a specific policy that provides greater benefits or options than the FMLA. FMLA is job-protected leave for eligible employees.
For anyone considering or planning on FMLA leave, you are likely wondering: how long will my job be safe? It will depend on the details of your situation. Our Palm Beach Gardens FMLA attorneys can explain in more detail.
Timeline of FMLA Leave
In general, employees who are eligible (meaning they work for covered employers, and they have worked long enough for the employer to qualify) can take up to 12 workweeks of job-protected leave in a single 12-month period. You do not need to take all of your leave at once, but you can do so. Accordingly, the amount of time that your job will be safe — or you will have job protection — is the amount of time that you are on leave. If you take all 12 workweeks of leave consecutively, you will have job protection for that period. If you take your leave in different intervals of time over the year, you will have job protection for each period of FMLA leave you take.
You should also know that the FMLA timeline is longer for military caregivers. If you are planning to take FMLA leave to provide for a family member in the military, you may have up to 26 workweeks of job-protected leave in a single 12-month period.
Job Protection May Not Mean Keeping Your Exact Job Open
It is important to know that “job protection” under the FMLA does not mean “the exact job you had before taking FMLA leave.” In fact, your exact position and title may not be available on your return, and a person’s employer can still be in compliance with the FMLA if they bring you back into the workplace in “an equivalent job that has the same pay, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment,” according to the US Department of Labor.
There are various reasons that an employer might need to fill the job you had with a more permanent employee, and as long as you are able to return to a position that is equivalent in all significant respects, your employer is not required to keep your exact job open. Yet, you should keep in mind that if the job you return to is not equivalent in all of the aspects described above, you may be able to file an FMLA claim.
Contact a Palm Beach Gardens FMLA Attorney for Help
If you have any questions about taking FMLA leave, or your rights under the FMLA to return to your job under the promise of job-protected leave, you should talk with one of the experienced Palm Beach Gardens FMLA lawyers at Sconzo Law Office. We can provide you with more information about your rights under the FMLA, and if you have reason to believe your FMLA rights were violated in any capacity, we can assess your situation and help you to file a claim. Contact us today to find out more about how we can assist you.
Source:
dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/28-fmla
