San Mateo FMLA Attorney

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is the federal leave law that affords eligible employees to take protected leave under specific circumstances, and it is intended to help employees deal with situations that are adverse to their jobs without fear of losing their jobs. The California Family Rights Act (CFRA) is the state version of FMLA, and it either meets or exceeds the federal requirements. 

When an employee’s right to federal or state leave is not upheld, an experienced San Mateo FMLA attorney is standing by to help. 

Employee Rights

In California, employers who have at least five employees have specific obligations to their employees related to CFRA, and they include up to 12 weeks of unpaid, protected leave within a 12-month period in relation to any of the following:

• Caring for someone with a serious health condition, including the employee’s spouse, registered domestic partner, child, grandchild, parent, grandparent, or sibling.
• Bonding with the employee’s newborn child, adopted child, or foster child.
• Recovering from the employee’s own serious health condition – other than pregnancy
• Tending to qualifying exigencies that are related to the military, such as spending time with a close active-duty military member who is on short-term leave from the U.S. Armed Forces, the National Guard, or the military reserves

Requirements

In order to partake of California’s leave laws, the following must apply:

• The employee has worked for the employer in question for at least a year. 
• The employee put in at least 1,250 hours over the 12 months prior to taking leave.

Further, employees must notify their employers of their plans to take leave at least 30 days prior to doing so whenever possible. For their part, employers are required to maintain the healthcare benefits of the employees on leave. Upon return, employees are entitled to the same position they had when they left or to a position that is comparable. 

Distinctions between California and Federal Protections

While FMLA and CFRA are both designed to protect employees from losing their jobs in the face of life’s circumstances, CFRA is more comprehensive. Consider the following distinctions:

• CFRA covers employees of employers with at least five employees, while FMLA covers employees of employers with at least 50 employees.
• For CFRA’s purposes, the five required employees can work anywhere, but FMLA requires the employer’s 50 employees to work within 75 miles of the worksite.
• While CFRA covers an array of family members, FMLA covers only the employee’s spouse, minor or dependent children, and parents.

Speak with an Experienced San Mateo FMLA Attorney TODAY

The State of California has important protections in place that relate to the right employees have to take leave in the face of specific events – without fear of reprisal or losing their jobs in the interim. The focused San Mateo FMLA attorneys at Minnis & Smallets dedicate their impressive practice to protecting these rights and helping employees prevail against related wrongdoing. Because obtaining fair compensation is challenging but important, don’t hesitate to contact us for more information about how we can help today.