Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) No Company is Too Big to Play Fair.

Minneapolis Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Attorneys

Federal law requires employers to provide unpaid leave under certain circumstances. Some state and local laws, including those in Minnesota, also provide employees with related and overlapping protections. The scope of these rights, such as which employers are covered, which employees qualify for leave, and how much protection they are provided varies according to where an employee works and resides.

Contact our lawyers to evaluate whether you are entitled to these protections.

What Employers Are Covered?

Under federal law, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) covers employees who work for an employer that has 50 or more employees within a certain geographic area.

What Employees Are Eligible?

In order to be eligible for FMLA leave, you must have been an employee for at least one year and worked a minimum of 1,250 hours for the employer. Then, you might qualify for a protective leave of absence if you need to take time off to care for the serious medical needs of yourself or certain family members. Similarly, you might qualify for protected parental leave if you are pregnant, recently had a baby, adopted a baby, or had a foster child placed in your care.

How Much Protection Is There?

Under the FMLA, eligible employees are entitled to receive up to 12 weeks of unpaid vacation per calendar year. In general, employers must avoid interfering with the exercise of your FMLA or comparable state or local rights. While on approved leave, your health, dental, and vision benefits must be maintained. Your employer may require you to use your paid sick or vacation time during leave. However, an employer is not allowed to retaliate against you for taking the leave. When you return, your employer must allow you to return to the same position you held before you took leave, or a similar position.

Examples of potential FMLA violations include:

  • You request a qualified leave, and your employer denies the request.

  • You return from a qualified leave and your employer refuses to give your job back.

  • You are harassed, demoted, or fired because you requested or took a qualified leave.

  • Your employer preemptively fires you or reduces your hours to prevent you from qualifying for a leave.

  • Your employer has a policy—official or unofficial—that employees are not supposed to take leave for any reason.

Get in touch with our Family Medical Leave Act lawyers in Minneapolis at (877) 344-4628.

  • Nichols Kaster obtained a successful jury verdict for a BNSF railroad employee on a Federal Railroad Safety Act retaliation claim.

  • Nichols Kaster obtained a jury verdict for a task force Special Agent in South Dakota on sexual harassment and retaliation claims.

  • Nichols Kaster confirmed the standard protecting workers from retaliation for verbally reporting to employer violation of wage and hour law in front of the Supreme Court.

  • Nichols Kaster obtained the second-largest settlement ever paid by the City of Saint Paul in an employment suit.

Compassion. Strength. Experience. A Voice for Employees and Consumers When They Need it Most

Our team of passionate, talented professionals work every day on advancing and protecting people's rights. No entity is too big to play fair, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to our firm to discuss the details of your situation.