At the law offices of Levi Williams, P.A., we work with countless people from the Broward County area who feel as though they’ve been treated unfairly by their employers while resolving personal matters. There are federal and state laws in place to help protect both companies and employees from problems that can arise as a result of personal issues. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the protections afforded to both employees and employers by these laws.
The federal Family and Medical Leave Act requires that all employers who have more than 50 employees to allow eligible workers up to 12 weeks leave per 12-month calendar year to deal with illness, care for family members, or immediately following the birth of a child. To qualify, employees must have been in their current jobs for more than a year and have worked a minimum of 1250 hours during that time. While there are no requirements in place to pay employees while on FMLA, health insurance benefits must still be guaranteed.
Florida has taken the rights afforded by FMLA even further by creating special protections for victims of domestic violence. The official site of the Florida Legislature lists those laws in Title XLIII Chapter 741 Section 313 of the state’s general statutes. They state that employees are allowed 3 days of leave every 12 months to deal with issues related to domestic abuse, such as:
- Filing injunctions against their abusers
- Seeking medical or mental health treatment
- Working with victim’s rights organizations
- Seeking legal help
- Securing their homes
Employees need to support their claims of abuse with documentation. This protection is only afforded after employees have exhausted all of their vacation and personal leave.
More information on regulations related to employment protection can be found on our Corporate Law page.
