Can employer fire you if doctor tells you to go out of work?

Answer 1

TO MY UNDERSTANDING THE ANSWERS IS NO, THERE SHOULD BE A POSTER POSTED IN YOUR WORK SITE WHERE ALL EMPLOYEES CAN VIEW IT, THE POSTER BRIEFLY EXPLAINS THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993 (FMLA), THIS POSTER SHOULD BE POSTED IN THE VIEW OF ALL EMPLOYEES BY LAW. FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993: The U.S. Department of Labor's Employ-ment Standards Administration, Wage and Hour Division, administers and enforces FMLA for all private, state and local government employees, and some federal employees. FMLA entitles eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job- protected leave each year for specified family and medical reasons. An eligible employee's right to FMLA leave begins on August 5, 1993; any leave taken before that date does not count as FMLA leave. The law contains provisions on employer coverage; employee eligibility for the law's benefits; entitlement to leave, maintenance of health benefits during leave, and job restoration after leave; notice and certification of the need for FMLA leave; and, protections for employees who request or take FMLA leave. The law also requires employers to keep certain records. FMLA applies to all:

• public agencies, including state, local and federal employers, local education agencies (schools) and
• private-sector employers who employed 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year and who are engaged in commerce or in any industry or activity affecting commerce þ including joint employers and successors of covered employers.

To be eligible for FMLA benefits, an employee must:

1. work for a covered employer;
2. have worked for the employer for a total of at least 12 months;
3. have worked at least 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months; and
4. work at a location where at least 50 employees are employed by the employer within 75 miles.

Most federal and certain congressional employees are also covered by the law and are subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and the Congress. A covered employer must grant an eligible employee up to a total of 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period for one or more of the following reasons:

• for the birth or placement of a child for adoption or foster care;
• to care for an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition; or
• to take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition.

Spouses employed by the same employer are jointly entitled to a combined total of 12 workweeks of family leave for the birth or placement of a child for adoption or foster care, and to care for a parent (but not a parent-in-law) who has a serious health condition. Leave for birth or placement for adoption or foster care must conclude within 12 months of the birth or placement. Under some circumstances, employees may take FMLA leave intermittently þ which means taking leave in blocks of time, or by reducing their normal weekly or daily work schedule.

• If FMLA leave is for birth or placement for adoption or foster care, use of intermittent leave is subject to the employer's approval.
• FMLA leave may be taken intermittently whenever medically necessary to care for a seriously ill family member, or because the employee is seriously ill and unable to work.

Also, subject to certain conditions, employees or employers may choose to use accrued paid leave (such as sick or vacation leave) to cover some or all of the FMLA leave. The employer is responsible for designating if an employee's use of paid leave counts as FMLA leave, based on information from the employee. In no case can use of paid leave be credited as FMLA leave after the leave has ended.