Pride in one’s work is the cornerstone of our nation’s success. Minneapolis residents embody this on a daily basis. Just as employees wish to perform their jobs well, employers are tasked with providing safe and healthy work environments that facilitate this good level of performance. This includes respecting the civil rights of all workers, providing employee benefits, preventing illegal workplace discrimination and more. One such right guaranteed to all employees by law is the ability to take time away from a job for select personal reasons without fear of losing the job for doing so.
The Family and Medical Leave Act is the legislation that provided this right to all workers. According to the website of the United States Department of Labor, people may take as many as 12 weeks off work without pay for qualifying situations. These situations include:
- The birth of a newborn baby.
- The adoption or acceptance into foster care of a newborn baby or child.
- The illness or health concern of a child, spouse or parent.
Under the FMLA, an employer is legally required to provide appropriate leave or job security to any worker facing these situations. In addition, if the person to be cared for is a member of any branch of the U.S. military, an employee’s length of unpaid leave under the FMLA can be as long as 26 weeks.
Employees should be aware of their rights under the FMLA to help them when they are needed to help their loved ones. At Neaton and Puklich, P.L.L.P., we understand the needs of people to care for their family members and have helped many clients to do just this.