Medical leave is a critical benefit to employment that allows you to take leave from work to care for a new child or severe illness in your family or yourself. However, many people worry that utilizing the leave can negatively affect their employment. While medical leave does provide certain protections, it is not without limits. However, if you have been terminated because you took leave, your termination might be illegal, and you may be entitled to compensation. Working with an Orange County wrongful termination attorney from Elite Employment Law can help you understand your rights and fight for the compensation you deserve.
Your Options for Medical Leave in California
As a worker in California, you may have access to two types of medical leave that can provide a decree of protection and job security.
The Family Medical Leave of Absence (FMLA) is a federally protected leave granting up to 12 weeks of protected, unpaid leave to care for yourself or your family. To utilize FMLA, you must have worked at your company for at least a year and 1,250 hours in the previous 12 months. Though your position is generally protected for when you return from leave, it is unpaid.
The state of California passed the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), which provides benefits similar to those of the FMLA, with some additional coverage. The benefits of the CFRA were expanded in recent years to include providing care to a ‘designated person.’ This can include a more distant relative like an aunt or cousin or a close friend whose relationship with you is comparable to family.
Exceptions to the Protections Offered by Medical Leave
In many cases, the benefit of formally taking medical leave is that it allows you to step away from your job while retaining benefits like health insurance and knowing that you will have your position or a similar one when you return. The comfort of knowing you will have a job to return to is significant, but this is not guaranteed under all circumstances.
A protected position is protected from your absence, but not conditions that may otherwise cause termination of your position. If your company decides to do layoffs and you would have otherwise been part of them, medical leave does not protect that. Similarly, if you are terminated due to legitimate performance or ethical issues, this is also legal.
Wrongful Termination Following Medical Leave
The protection of your job covers termination or retaliation based on discrimination or retaliation. So, it is illegal to terminate you simply because you utilized family leave to address health conditions in your life. If you try to return to work to find out you have been terminated for no logical reason, this may be illegal, and your employer may be vulnerable to a wrongful termination lawsuit.
Documenting your interactions with your employer regarding leave is always a good idea. It may benefit you to have records of when you submitted the request and any concerns from yourself or your employer. Additionally, in some cases, it may be helpful to reference recent performance evaluations if they can show evidence of positive performance.
In short, medical leave protects your position if it is otherwise safe. It does not make you impervious to the normal ups and downs of business.