For employees across the US, balancing personal and professional responsibilities is a high priority. This is especially true when the employee or a family member has a serious health condition that requires an extensive treatment and recovery period. In these situations, the Family Medical Leave Act can be extremely important. If your employer is bound by FMLA rules and you are an eligible employee, you can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave time to care for yourself or a loved one. However, since FMLA has many complexities, employers sometimes misunderstand its provisions or blatantly violate its rules. If you believe this has taken place and wish to file a FMLA claim against your employer, consult with a Los Angeles employment lawyer from Mann Elias.
Denying Coverage to Employees
In some cases, an employer will deny FMLA coverage to an employee. Usually, this happens when the employer misinterprets the law. For example, if an employee misses work due to a cold but then develops pneumonia or bronchitis, an employer may initially deny FMLA leave. However, since the employee now has serious medical complications, FMLA should apply. In other situations, an employer may count FMLA absences against an employee, which is a violation of federal law. If this is happening to you, file a FMLA claim immediately through a family medical leave lawyer at Mann Elias.
Notice and Certification Issues
In some situations, an employer may fail to inform employees of their FMLA rights and obligations, choose to not recognize notice given by employees, or perhaps require employees to give too much notice prior to taking FMLA leave. In any case, each of these is a FMLA violation. If you have been denied family medical leave due to these circumstances, contact an attorney for family medical leave to discuss your situation in more detail.
Leave Management Violations
Once you are on FMLA leave, various violations may still occur. One of the most common is your employer failing to continue your health insurance, which often happens when employers have a vague understanding of FMLA guidelines. In other instances, employers may continually pressure employees for status updates as to when they will be returning to work, or maybe even enact disciplinary measures or terminate an employee who is on FMLA leave. Should this happen to you, do not let your employer get by with such illegal activity. Instead, file an FMLA claim through your Los Angeles employment lawyer at Mann Elias.
Reinstatement Issues
Once you are ready to return to work, you may encounter various reinstatement issues. For example, your employer may postpone your reinstatement or place you into a lesser position. In other cases, they may fail to reinstate your benefits or mistakenly classify you as a “key” employee, which could allow them to not allow you to return to work at all. If you are encountering these difficulties, hold your employer accountable for their actions by immediately filing an FMLA claim with your family medical leave lawyer at Mann Elias.
