Do you or a close family member suffer from a serious health condition? Are you worried about holding on to your job if you have to take time away from work? Are you on a medical leave now? Will your employer hold your job?
There are laws to protect you. The Family and Medical Leave Acts (State and Federal) are designed to protect employees who need to take time away from work because of serious health conditions. Generally, these laws apply to large employers (those who have at least 50 employees under the Federal law, 75 employee for our Connecticut FMLA).
Employees are covered if they have worked for this employer for at least 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 hours during those 12 months. If you need to be away from work for a serious health condition for:
- yourself
- your spouse
- your parent
- your child
... you have the right to take a leave for a serious health condition (not any ailment) of up to 12 weeks per year under the Federal law, and up to 16 weeks in a twenty four month period under our Connecticut law. As long as you are ready to go back to work before the applicable period expires, you must be returned to your former job or an equivalent one.
Claims under the Connecticut law must be made within 180 days, so do not delay.
Please complete our confidential questionnaire to submit your inquiry.
Am I entitled to my old job back after I recover?
Recent Cases:
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that an employee who told his co-worker to report that he was taking an FMLA-protected day off, but did not tell his supervisor directly, was entitled to protection under the FMLA. The employer attempted to argue that its policy, which required that employees notified their supervisors directly that they were taking FMLA-protected days off, was lawful. The court held that the employer's policy could not provide less protection than the FMLA itself, which does not require that an employee tell his supervisor directly that he is taking an FMLA day off. Millea v. Metro-North R.R. Co., 2011 WL 3437513 (2d Cir. Aug. 8, 2011).
A federal judge in Washington recently allowed an employee who was "laid off" during her FMLA leave to proceed with her case against her employer for FMLA interference. While the employee was out on FMLA leave, she received a notice from her employer letting her know that would not have her job when she returned. The judge held that the case should not be dismissed because another worker was actually hired while the plaintiff was out on leave and the employer could not provide information showing that it was in financial hardship. Gutierrez v. Grant County, 2011 WL 1654548 (E.D. Wash. May 2, 2011).
A federal judge in Connecticut recently held that an employee who went out on FMLA leave, and was never properly reinstated after coming back to wok, could continue his case after his employer moved to dismiss his case. When employees come back to work after a protected leave, they are supposed to be returned to either the same position or a position with equivalent pay and responsibility. In this case, the employee was not reinstated but was only given a temporary position. The employee was given a severance payment of $97,000 when he left, and he accepted it. The employer tried to argue that because he took the payment, he released his claims for violation of the FMLA. The Court held that the employee had not released his claims and could continue with his lawsuit. Ahrens v. Dunkin' Brands, Inc., 2011 WL 60517 (D. Conn. Jan. 4, 2011) (Bryant, J.).
"No employer should be able to take advantage of a sick or injured worker, or one who needs to care for a sick or injured family member. I take great pride in enforcing these important laws."
-Attorney Richard Hayber
The Hayber Law Firm, LLC, Employee Rights Advocates, 221 Main Street, Suite 502 Hartford, CT 06106
