What is the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and how does it apply to you and your case? The FMLA allows qualified employees to take up to 12 weeks off of work for their own medical condition, to care for a family member with a medical condition, or to care for a newborn or newly adopted child.
Who Qualifies for FMLA in Georgia?
A qualified employee is one who has worked for an employer for more than 1250 hours in the previous 12 months. At the same time, for an employer to be subject to the FMLA, they must have at least 50 employees within a 75-mile radius of the location where the qualified employee works.
How Does the FMLA Protect Employees in Georgia?
Essentially, in Georgia, the FMLA can protect you from being fired or laid off while on leave for a covered reason. If you need up to 12 weeks of time to recover from a covered condition or to care for a loved one with a covered condition, then you cannot be terminated during that time.
At the end of your leave, under the FMLA, your employer must allow you to return to your original position or to a substantially similar position.
Will I be Paid During my FMLA Leave?
Employers in Georgia are not required to offer paid leave under the FMLA. Your employer may offer to pay you your normal wage, a reduced wage, or no wage at all during your leave. However, their only requirement is to ensure that you may return to your old position or a very similar new position.
Unfortunately, we have seen numerous employers ignore the FMLA, leaning on the fact that Georgia is an employment-at-will state. This is where Ben Barrett Law comes in. We are here to fight for your rights and to force employers to abide by the law. If you’ve been terminated while on FMLA leave, you may have an employment law case. Call us today to schedule your complimentary phone consultation.
Our Process
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People come to us when they feel they’ve been wronged by an employer. They seek help from an employment attorney because they may have been dismissed without cause, subjected to a breach of an employment contract, or they may have suffered in some other way at the hands of their employer.
Our process differs from other employment attorneys in Georgia. We take the time to get to know you and your challenges. Many of our clients first come to us with a problem that — while unfair — may not actually be illegal. However, after taking the time to sit down and speak with them, our expert Atlanta employment law attorneys often find that the client has a case they were previously unaware of.
For example, your employer may have the right to fire you for any reason or no reason at all. They do not, however, have the right to retaliate against you for exercising your rights. If we can prove that you were dismissed as a form of retaliation for, say, reporting a case of sexual harassment, then we have a strong case to bring against your former employer.
This is where Ben Barrett Law differs from other employment law firms in Georgia. Our process begins with an in-depth consultation in which we’ll get to know you, your problem, and your needs. We’ll help you understand the laws that apply to your case and how to best proceed. We will then use our expertise to fight for your rights and get you the best results possible. If you believe that you may have an employment law case, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us today. Call (404)845-7449 or fill out our online contact form.