SICK TIME, MEDICAL LEAVE AND PREGNANCY LEAVE

News that an employee is pregnant, has taken seriously ill, or must care for a family member suffering from a serious medical condition, is not always met with compassion and understanding from the employer. Requesting an extended leave or absence, or even a few days to recover from an illness, can be awkward and stressful.

There are various federal and state statutes that govern an employee’s rights with respect to sick time, medical leave, maternity leave, and pregnancy disability leave. Regardless of the duration or circumstance of the request for leave, it is critical that the employee know his or her legal rights.

The governing law can be confusing…the size of the employer, the length of employment, the nature of the medical condition, and the relationship between the family medical leave and pregnancy disability leave statutes are just few important factors in determining an employee’s rights to sick time and/or medical leave.

The complexity of these statutes often results in costly mistakes by employers and considerable stress and financial hardship for the employees. Please call us immediately with any questions you may have with regard to your rights to sick time and/or medical leave.