Carolina Alliance

        For Fair Employment

           (C.A.F.E.)

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The Family Medical Leave Act

       After a political battle and much negotiating, former President Bill Clinton and Congress passed the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) on August 5th, 1993.  This Act is enforced primarily by the Wage and Hour Division of the United States Department of Labor's Employment Standards Administration.

        FMLA applies to all public agencies, including state, local and federal employers, schools, and private sector employers who employ 50 or more employees in 20 or more work weeks in the current or preceding calendar year.  What FMLA entitles eligible employees to is the ability to take 12 weeks of unpaid, job protected leave in a 12 month period for specified family and medical reasons.  The employer may elect to use the calendar year, a fixed 12 month leave or fiscal year, or a 12-month period prior to or after the commencement of leave as the 12 month period.  To be eligible for FMLA benefits, an employee must work for a covered employer, have worked for the employer for a total of 12 months, have worked at least 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months, and work at a location in the United States or in any territory of the U.S. where at least 50 employees are employed by the employer within 75 miles.

    A covered employer, therefore, must grant eligible employee up to a total of 12 work weeks of unpaid leave for the following reasons:

    1.  For the birth and care of a newborn child of the employee

    2.  For placement with the employee of a son or daughter for adoption or foster care.

    3.  To care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition.

    4.  To take medical leave when the employee is unable to work, due to a serious health

         condition.

        At a recent Board Meeting (May 17th, 2005), Larry Griffin, a representative from the Wage and Hour Division of the US Department of Labor, gave a very in-depth and insightful look into the complex act known as FMLA.  After his presentation, time was set aside for questions and a number of questions were asked, many of which were situational.  Mr. Griffin did stress that FMLA contained spousal, progeny, and parental provisions, and that paid sick leave can run concurrently with FMLA.

        Despite the many complexities in the Act, however, the simple fact still remains that the Family Medical Leave Act provides working people with a way to take care of emergency, medical issues without the fear of employers taking away their jobs.