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Contractor Care Helpdesk

Employee Rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act

Caitlin Dillon
  • Updated

Your Rights Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

The FMLA gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of job-protected, unpaid leave in a 12-month period for:

  • Birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child

  • A serious personal health condition

  • Caring for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition

  • Certain military family needs

Employees may take up to 26 workweeks in a single 12-month period to care for a seriously ill or injured servicemember who is a close family member (eligible employee who is the spouse, child, parent or next of kin of a covered servicemember)

Leave can be taken all at once, intermittently, or on a reduced schedule. FMLA is unpaid, but you may use paid leave if available.

To qualify, you must:

  • Work for a covered employer (generally one with 50+ employees),

  • Have worked there for at least 12 months,

  • Have logged 1,250+ hours in the past year, and

  • Be within 75 miles of a location with 50+ employees.

Your employer must:

  • Maintain your health insurance during leave

  • Restore you to the same or equivalent job afterward

  • Not interfere with your rights or retaliate against you

For more information and specific details, see the attached poster.