Employment Attorney

There are federal and state statutes that regulate leaves of absence and/or affect the rights of employees who take a leave of absence. Although there are federal and state statutes that regulate leaves of absence, the good news is that an employee may utilize the applicable body of law that provides the most protection in their particular situation, which an Employment Lawyer or Labor Attorney will be able to determine. Below are a few points to keep in mind in regards to taking a medical leave of absence.

In most cases, an employee can take a protected leave of absence if they have what a doctor considers as a "serious health condition" such as an illness or injury. An employee may also have a protected leave if their spouse, child, or parent is diagnosed with a "serious health condition." Alternatively, an employee may take a protected leave for the birth of their child as well as to care for the child thereafter. Also, an employee may be entitled to a protected leave of absence for the placement of an adopted child.

Lastly, an employee may be protected in taking a leave of absence if he or she has a family member who is on active duty or in the armed forces.

An employee is not usually entitled to a paid leave. In some cases however, an employee may be entitled to a paid leave if there is a policy in place at their particular company that ensures that the employee does receive paid leave. Each employee's circumstances differ so it is important to discuss the particulars of your case in deciding whether or not you were or are entitled to paid leave.

In a situation where you need to take a medical leave from work, whether or not you need to provide a note from your doctor is a complicated question. Typically, if an employer requests a doctor's note, then an employee may be obligated to provide one from their doctor. Not providing a doctor's note may give the employer the right to deny the employee's request for a leave of absence.

If an employee does put in a request to their employer to take a medical leave of absence, the employer may give the employee a series of forms for their doctor to complete within a specific time frame. An employee who is given documents by their employer should have the paperwork filled out as soon as possible by their doctor and returned to their employer within the time frame specified by the employer. It will be helpful for the employee to keep a copy of all written communications with the employer and all documents related to the leave, as well as keeping a record of all verbal communications between themselves and their employer.

A common concern that many employees have before, during, or after they take a medical leave is whether or not they will be reinstated upon their return. Depending on the specific facts and circumstances of the case, an employee may be entitled to reinstatement upon their return. An employee may have a right to reinstatement is if he or she has a "serious health issue" according to a doctor. In addition to having a serious health issue, the employee would need to have taken no more than 12 weeks of leave. This means that if a doctor diagnoses an employee with a serious health issue and the doctor advises in a form to the employee's employer that the employee needs a certain amount of time off, it would need to be no more than 12 weeks in order for the employee to be entitled to return to their same/equivalent position.

For example, after a recent visit to her doctor, Beth was diagnosed with a serious illness which required that she have surgery within the month. Her doctor informed Beth that after the surgery she would need to be on bed rest for at least 2-3 weeks. Beth is an assistant manager at the factory she is employed at and is now worried that if she takes time off for the surgery she will lose her job. Here, Beth is in a difficult position because she needs to take time off of work to address her medical condition and secondly, she is worried that she is going to lose her job or perhaps be demoted if she does follow her doctor's instructions to take time off. In Beth's case, she may be entitled to her same job upon her return. This is because Beth's doctor has recommended that she take 2-3 weeks off which placed Beth below the 12-week cut-off. Therefore Beth may not have an issue being reinstated upon her return.

Every case varies due to the complexity of the laws that regulate leaves of absence for employees. Certain factors may be taken into consideration in deciding whether or not you may obtain your original position such as how essential your position was at the company. If you are an employee and have questions related to a leave of absence, you should reach out to a Labor Attorney to discuss whether any of your rights were violated and if your employer complied with the leave of absence laws.