Medical Leave, Maternity Leave, and the FMLA - Austin

Contact an Austin employment lawyer with our Austin office to discuss your rights to take medical leave under the FMLA and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Federal and state laws provide many employees with the right to take medical leave for various medical reasons. These laws often prohibit an employer from terminating, disciplining, or otherwise retaliating against an employee for taking protected medical leave. These laws are often complicated, and medical leave rights vary from employee to employee. If you want to discuss a potential claim for medical leave under the FMLA, contact our Austin office to schedule a consultation with an Austin employment lawyer.

The Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") is a federal law that provides covered employees the right to take up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave every year. This medical leave can be used to treat an individual medical condition or to take care of an immediate family member with a serious medical condition. The FMLA often covers employees for maternity leave or paternity leave, including the adoption of a new child.

Additionally, the FMLA prohibits an employer from retaliating against an employee who takes FMLA leave. Although against the law, many employers still find ways to unlawfully retaliate against employees who take medical leave. For example, some employers will eliminate the position while the employee is on medical leave, claiming it was a business decision. If this has happened to you, contact our office and schedule a consultation with an Austin employment lawyer.

The application of the FMLA varies greatly based on the facts. If you want to learn about your FMLA and medical leave rights, contact an Austin employment lawyer with our firm to discuss your rights.

The FMLA does not provide all employees with medical leave rights. In fact, with limited exception, the FMLA only covers employers with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius. Additionally, a covered employee must be employed with the employer for at least 12 months, and the employee has to have worked at least 1,250 hours for the employer within the last twelve months. Thus, not all employers and employees are covered by the FMLA.

The Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") requires employers to provide employees with a reasonable accommodation, if needed to accommodate an employee's disability. Medical leave is a common reasonable accommodation. The FMLA requires covered employers to provide up to twelve weeks of medical leave to qualified employees. Thus, the FMLA and the ADA often work together to provide protection for a disabled employee needing medical leave to treat a disability.

For example, taking medical leave to treat a serious medical condition is often protected by the FMLA. Additionally, the medical leave may be protected under the ADA as a reasonable accommodation if the medical condition qualifies as a disability. If an employer denies an employee's request for medical leave, the employer may have violated the FMLA and the ADA.

This analysis depends heavily on the facts of each case. Thus, an employee experiencing problems obtaining medical leave should consult an employment lawyer. If you would like to learn more about your rights, contact our office and schedule a consultation with an Austin employment lawyer.

The FMLA provides many employees with the right to take up to twelve weeks of medical leave each year. This FMLA leave, however, does not have to be taken all at once. The FMLA provides covered employees the ability to take intermittent medical leave. For example, an employee can take FMLA leave in five-minute increments if needed to treat a serious medical condition. The covered employee may be limited, however, to taking no more than 12 weeks of medical leave in a year. Contact an Austin employment lawyer with our firm if your employer has denied you the right to take intermittent FMLA leave

Our firm schedules consultation to discuss employment claims. If you would like to schedule a consultation with an Austin employment lawyer, contact our firm today.