Employment Law Topics: Family and Medical Leave
At the Utah law firm of Howard, Lewis & Petersen, we encounter a lot of questions about coverage laws for medical leave such as pregnancy and childbirth, care of a family member with a serious health condition, and care of their own health condition. There is often an overlap between the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and other similar state laws that many people wonder about. So today’s article is to help answer some of those questions about whether you are covered for long-term health-related work leaves.
The most common state laws that over lap with the FMLA are workers’ compensation laws and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Employees enjoy the benefits of both laws when two or more employment laws apply. For example, if an employee is injured on the job, they might be entitled to the benefits of state workers’ comp statutes and the FMLA if the work injury is a covered serious health condition.
Types of state family and medical leave laws that typically overlap the FMLA can include:
- Comprehensive family and medical leave laws, which generally protect your right to work-leave for medical, caretaking, and/or parental responsibilities.
- Pregnancy disability leave laws are state laws that require employers to provide time off for the reasonable length of time a woman is temporarily disabled by pregnancy and childbirth.
- Adoption leave laws are offered by employers who offer some form of parental leave. Employers may choose not to offer parental leave, but if they do, they must make it equally available to adoptive parents.
- Small necessities laws require employers to allow time off for various family functions, such as taking a child to routine dental, medical, or school appointments, or helping with eldercare. They are called “small necessities” because they are important to employees, but they are not expected to take up much work time.
- Domestic violence leave laws allow employees to take time off for domestic violence issues, such as getting medical care or counseling, seeking a restraining order, or relocating to a safe environment.
In order to find out if state or federal leave laws apply to your situations, click here or call the Provo attorneys at Howard, Lewis & Petersen today at (801) 373-6345 for a consultation.
Posted by: on: Feb 11, 2014 @ 04:08
