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What events qualify for leave under the FMLA?

by | Feb 10, 2019 | Employment Law - Employees

For people who work in West Virginia, it is important to understand what protections are available to them by law to allow them to take care of family matters without the fear of losing their jobs. The Family and Medical Leave Act is a federal law that outlines the provisions for time away from one’s job due to qualifying life events. Integral to this law is that the employee is guaranteed to return to a position of equal status and pay upon completion of their leave time.

The United States Department of Labor outlines the varying situations that may qualify a person to take leave under the FMLA. If you are married and your spouse requires care for a health condition, you may take FMLA benefits for this. This benefit is available to any married person, including someone in a same-sex marriage. Leave is also available to people who must care for an ill parent or child.

Commonly called maternity or paternity leave, parents of newborns may take time under the FMLA to care for their babies. This leave is also available to parents of newly adopted children or to foster parents who take in newly placed foster children. The FMLA allows people to take up to 12 weeks of time without pay in a given 12-month period of time.

This information is not intended to provide legal advice but is instead meant to give employed persons in West Virginia an overview of the types of life events that may qualify them to take unpaid leave from their jobs under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

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