Family Medical Leave Act/California Family Rights Act

An employee may be legally entitled to take medical leave under either the federal “family Medical Leave Act” or the state “California Family Rights Act.” If you are entitled to take such leave, your employer cannot fire you or otherwise retaliate against you for exercising this right. This legal right applies even to “at-will” employees, and allows an employee who has been victimized by an employer that has refused to meet is obligations under these Acts to bring a lawsuit for damages against the employer.

The California Family Rights Act requires private and public employers with 50 or more employees in a 75-mile radius to grant an unpaid family leave of up to 12 weeks annually to eligible employees.

Eligibility for Family Leave Violations

To be eligible to take such leave the employee must have worked for the employer for at least one year and must have worked for at least 1,250 hours during the year before the leave. The Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) allows eligible employees of a covered employer to take unpaid leave or to substitute appropriate paid leave for up to 12 workweeks in any12 months with the assurance of job restoration. An employee is 12 workweeks in any 12 months with the assurance of job restoration. An employee is entitled to FMLA leave of the birth or care of a newborn or newly adopted child, or for the care of a close family member with a serious health condition or the employee's own serious health condition. If an employer retaliates or takes an adverse employment action because of an employee's exercise of his or right to family leave, it is a violation of the California Family Rights Act. An eligible employee is entitled to 12 workweeks of the unpaid leave during any 12-month period for any one or more of the following reasons: