What Are My Employment Rights As a Caregiver to a Disabled Family Member?
Caring for a disabled family member is demanding physically, emotionally and financially. In 1993, the United States government granted you certain rights to protect your job and your familial obligations as a caregiver. The Family and Medical Leave Act gives you leave and protects you from losing your job while you care for your disabled relative.
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Employee Eligibility
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According to the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, you must work for an employer with 50 or more employees within 75 miles of your workplace in the United States. You must have at least 12 months with your current eligible employer over the past seven years, though it does not need to be consecutively. Within those 12 months, you must have logged at least 1,250 hours worked or an average of just over 24 hours a week.
Leave Rights
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You are entitled as a caregiver by the Family and Medical Leave Act to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for every 12 months worked. This leave is intended to care for major family and medical events, such as caring for a disabled immediate family member. Immediate family is considered your parent, spouse or child. The 12 weeks do not need to be consecutive and may be used to reduce your workweek to care for a disabled family member needing regular medical treatments you attend or similar circumstances. Note that your employer may not fire you for taking FMLA leave or give away your job without supplying a similar position when you return.
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Definition
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For the purposes of the FMLA, the Department of Labor defines "serious medical condition" or disability specifically. Any in-patient care such as hospital stays, surgeries and periods of incapacity are considered a serious medical condition. An illness that incapacitates a person for more than three days and requires a doctor's visit with continuing treatment and check-ups over 30 days qualifies as a serious medical condition as well. Chronic or episodic medical conditions that require a physician's care and incapacitates a person for a period of time qualifies as disabled.
Courtesies to Employer
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You are required, if at all possible, to notify your employer 30 days before leave is taken if the situation is foreseeable, according to the Department of Labor FMLA website. If frequent time off or reduced hours are required, the Family and Medical Leave Act dictates that the employee must work with the employer to prevent hindering business practices during high-volume or busy hours if at all possible.
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References
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