Atlanta Family and Medical Leave Act Attorney
Expert Family Medical Leave Act Dispute Lawyers In Atlanta, Georgia
Family Medical Leave Act attorneys like those at Weiner & Sand LLC help employees when an employer interferes with their rights under federal law and when an employer retaliates against them for requesting or using FMLA leave.
Who Is Covered Under The Family And Medical Leave Act?
Under the FMLA, employers must allow eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave to care for the employee’s own serious health condition, to care for a family member’s serious health condition, and for the birth or care of a newborn or adopted child.
To be an eligible employee under the FMLA, an employee must:
- be employed for at least 12 months; and
- have worked for at least 1,250 hours in the year prior to the date of your leave.
Additionally, an employer needs to provide FMLA leave only if it is covered by the FMLA. To be covered, the employer must be:
- a private-sector employer, with 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year, including a joint employer or successor in interest to a covered employer; or
- a public agency, including a local, state, or Federal government agency, regardless of the number of employees it employs; or
- a public or private elementary or secondary school, regardless of the number of employees it employs.
What Kinds Of Violations Can An FMLA Lawyer Pursue?
The Family and Medical Leave Act prohibits employers from interfering with an employee’s rights under the law, including the right to take leave, refusing to authorize leave, discouraging an employee from taking leave, and imposing requirements on an employee for taking leave that is not required by law. With a handful of exceptions, an employer also cannot interfere with an employee’s rights upon his or her return from leave, including the right to be placed back in their previous position or in an equivalent position.
The FMLA also protects employees against retaliation for requesting or taking leave. For example, if your employer is unhappy that you took FMLA and forced it to work short-handed, and it demotes or fires you because you took leave, then this action may constitute retaliation under the law. Similarly, if your employer refuses to return you to the same or a similar job once you return from FMLA leave, then, in most circumstances, it has violated federal law. It typically is no excuse for an employer to claim that it had to hire someone else while you were out on leave.
Contact An Atlanta FMLA Lawyer When Your Rights Have Been Violated
Weiner & Sand LLC has filed many lawsuits and settled many claims for violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act. Many of these resolutions involve the recovery of an injured employee’s lost wages, as well as liquidated damages that are allowed under the Family and Medical Leave Act. In addition, the FMLA provides for attorneys’ fees to be paid to a prevailing party, so Atlanta Family and Medical Leave Act attorneys like those at Weiner & Sand LLC typically receive their attorneys’ fees from the employer, and not from the injured employee.
Our skilled and compassionate Family and Medical Leave Act lawyers offer case consultations. Reach out to us by phone or by filling out our convenient online form below. Let us do the heavy lifting so you can concentrate on getting well and getting your work and life back on track.