Human Resource Blog

FMLA in Florida

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Who is covered by the FMLA in Florida?

The Family and Medical Leave Act is a federal Act that applies to employees in states across the country, including employees and employers in the state of Florida. The Act is in place so that worker can take up to 12 weeks off of work each year in order to care for their own health or for the health of a qualifying family member. However, in order to take FMLA time off, the workers and the employers need to qualify for coverage.

An employer qualifies for FMLA coverage as long as it has at least 50 employees that work within a 75-mile radius of the employee that wishes to take the FMLA time off. An employee is covered by the Act as long as the employee has worked for a covered employer for at least 20 weeks out of the previous year or a total of 1,250 hours. Those 20 weeks do not have to have been consecutive.

When an employee takes the FMLA time off, the employee should be able to return to work at the end of the time off to have the same job or an equivalent job. Also, the employee should have the same salary and benefits that he or she had prior to taking FMLA time off. Employees should not be discriminated against by the employer for taking this time off.

Employees may be able to take FMLA time off for the following reasons:

·         To care for their own health

·         To care for the health of a child, as long as the child is under the age of 18

·         To care for a spouse

·         To care for a parent, as long as the employee is over the age of 18 and the parent is a biological parent and not an in-law

·         For the birth of a child

·         After a child has been adopted or taken in through foster care. CB