Recent Changes in Regulations May Work in Your Favor
by Atty. Ira Mirkin
Green Haines Sgambati
www.GreenHaines.com
If you need to take a leave of absence from your job for family, medical or military reasons, certain rights are conferred upon you by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Basically, an employee who meets the criteria set out in this act is entitled to up to 12 weeks leave from his or her job without fear of termination or other reprisals. A new set of amendments to this law took effect in January of 2008, and the U.S. Department of Labor recently issued regulations that clarified these amendments.
The new regulations cover several key areas, including:
- the impact of “light duty” work on an employee’s FMLA leave.
- clarification of the criteria that must be met to claim a “serious health condition.”
- modification to regulations governing how an employee must notify his or her employer on the need for Family or Medical Leave.
- changes to the Medical Certification Process by which an employer can seek information about an employee who seeks leave.
- clarification of the effect a break in service may have on the requirement that an employee work at least 12 months before being eligible for FMLA leave.
Green Haines Sgambati has attorneys who specialize in Family and Medical Leave Act law. If your employer does not follow the letter of the law and attempts to deny you leave you are entitled to, we may be able to force him or her to follow the law, and to recover damages for failure to do so.
