Family and Medical Leave Act

• The Family and Medical Leave Act allows an employee to temporarily leave work for medical reasons for 12 weeks, while still receiving the same health insurance and benefits. The employee does not receive pay during this time. The employer must hold the employee's job or offer the employee a similar job with an identical pay rate upon her return.
  
  

Employee Responsibilities

• An employee must give the employer a 30-day notice before the first day of medical leave. In addition, the employee must provide the employer with adequate documentation of the reason for the absence.
  
  

Terminations

• While an employee is under FMLA-designated leave, the employer may terminate them for reasons not related to the disability. Adequate documentation of poor performance by the employee is necessary in these cases to avoid wrongful termination lawsuits.