Family Related Issues

Family Related Issues

Kathleen Carpenter

for

Dr. Christine Singh

Legal 500

May 2, 2011

In an effort to help employees balance the challenges between work life and home life, in 1993 Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act. The act allows for eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in order to care for a family member or for an employees own medical reasons. By doing so, the company can not fire the employee for the absence nor can they terminate the employees benefits. According to the Society of Human Resource Management, the law was designed to “give workers assurance that they will not lose their jobs in order to meet their personal and family obligations or tend to vital needs at home” (Society of Human Resource Management [SHRM], n.d.). The law also provides guidelines for both employers and employees to follow in order to be covered. The following will help illustrate these guidelines.

Explain if it matters that a parent literally had nothing to do with a biological child in order for the child to take advantage of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to care for that parent.

When the Family and Medical Leave Act was instituted in 1993, the law spelled out certain stipulations in order for employees to qualify. For example, the law gives a detailed amount of time that one must be employed by the company. The law does not however, spell out any such specifics in the type of relationship one has had with the family member. According to SHRM, an employer may grant leave for the “care of an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent, but not parent in law) with a serious condition” (SHRM, n.d.). The act does not make any such time requirements as to the amount of time spent together or the amount of involvement a parent has the child or vice versa.

Explain whether the size of the business can have any effect on whether Tony is eligible for family leave under FMLA.

The Family Medical and Leave Act not only...