Top 10 Legal Issues Facing Entrepreneurs in Pennsylvania

Topic 9: Compliance with Federal Employee Leave Law

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA)
Another area of federal law that an employer should be familiar with is the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.¹ The FMLA is federal legislation that governs under what conditions and how long an employee may take leave from work. This Act only applies to employers who have 50 or more employees for each working day during each of 20 or more calendar work weeks.² This is despite the fact that in 2000, 89.2% of private employers had less than 50 employees and therefore were not covered by the Act.³ Even if an employer is within the Family Medical Leave Act, for an employee to invoke the leave law they must be considered “eligible” as well. Under the FMLA, an eligible employee is one who has been employed for “at least 12 months by the employer…and for at least 1,250 hours of service with such employer during the 12 month period”.⁴ If the employer is within the application of the FMLA and the employee is eligible, the Act requires a “total of 12 work weeks of leave during any 12 month period for one or more of the following reasons:

• because of the birth of a son or daughter of the employee and in order to care for such son or daughter
• because of the placement of a son or daughter of the employee with the employee for adoption or foster care
• in order to care for the spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent of the employee, if such spouse, son, daughter, or parent has a serious health condition
• because of a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the functions of the position of such employee”⁵

It should be noted that there is no possibility of extension for any sort of condition or complication during birth or within a year thereafter, under the FMLA, beyond the prescribed 12-week period.⁵ It should also be noted and stressed that although the FMLA requires a 12 work week leave provided by the employer, there is absolutely no requirement that the leave be with any sort of compensation. In other words, unpaid leave for the entire period is permitted under the federal law.^{7 8}

Conclusion
Understanding the FMLA, when it is applicable to employers, what employees are considered “eligible” and therefore protected by the Act, and how to comply with the Act are of great importance to today’s business leaders in seeking to avoid unnecessary disputes or litigation. Keeping in mind the above outline and legal principles underlying the Family Medical Leave Act should help today’s entrepreneurs sustain compliance.

¹ 29 U.S.C.A. §2612 et seq.

² 29 U.S.C.A. §2611(4)(a)(1993)

³ Department of Labor Balancing the Needs of Families and Employers; Family and Medical Leave Surveys; 2000 Update 3-2 – 3-3 and Table 3.1 (2001).

⁴ 29 U.S.C.A. §2611(2)(a)(1993).

⁵ 29 U.S.C.A. §2612(a)(1)(1993).

⁶ Schnoor v. Publications International, LTD., 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14486 (N.D. Ill. 2005).

⁷ 29 U.S.C.A. §2612(c)(1993).

⁸ In reality, the class of persons most in need of protected leave, single women, are largely left unprotected by the FMLA for the simple reason that they are unable to go without a paycheck.

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