The FMLA provides protection only to “covered” employees, working for “covered” employers. What does that mean? First, the employer must have 50 or more employees working within a 75-mile radius. Employers with less than 50 employees are not required to comply with the statute.
What is the FMLA?
The Family and Medical Leave Act, known as the FMLA, provides protection to employees who need to take leave from work, either for their own medical condition or to care for others. The statute requires employers to keep the employee’s actual position, or a comparable one, available for them when they return. However, the FMLA does not protect every employee of every employer. It is crucial that employees understand the eligibility requirements.
What does it mean to be a "covered" employer or employee?
For an employee to be eligible, he or she must meet the following three requirements:
● have been employed for at least 12 non-consecutive months,
● have worked 1,250 hours during the 12-month period preceding the start of the requested leave; and
● work at a location where the employer employs 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius.
Technically, if an employee does not meet any of these criteria, he or she cannot enjoy the protection of the statute. However, if an employer tells them they are entitled to FMLA leave, that employer must follow through with that representation.
Can my employer provide more than the FMLA does?
Consider this example: An employer is required to abide by its written FMLA policy, which provides broader eligibility than the FMLA statute. The employer established a written FMLA policy which clearly left out the requirement that employees work at a location that employs 50 or more employees within a 75- mile radius. Therefore, when this employer denied the plaintiff’s request for FMLA leave, based on the 75-mile requirement, the Court rejected this argument. Because this requirement was unambiguous and excluded this specific requirement, the employer was required to abide by its written policy.
What is the importance of my employer’s FMLA policy?
In the same situation, an employer certainly can include a condition in its employee eligibility requirements, by stating that its otherwise eligible employees would only be covered by the FMLA if they worked at, or within 75 miles of, a site at which the company employed at least 50 employees. Because the employer, in that case, did not do so, the court would not rule, as a matter of law, that the employee was unreasonable in relying on the written FMLA policy established by the employer. The lesson to be learned is that courts are likely to hold employers accountable to the terms of their FMLA policies, even if they misrepresent an employee’s FMLA eligibility. If you feel you have been questions regarding FMLA eligibility, or if you have any other questions regarding your employment rights, please contact Michel Allen & Sinor , either online or by calling us at (205) 265-1880.