Taking Time Off From Work Without Fearing a Pink Slip

Several years ago, an allergic reaction sent one woman to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a rare skin disorder and then lupus. Missing many days of work, she, 26, feared she might lose her job as a school-district secretary in Buffalo Grove, IL. But then, through a family member, she learned about the Family & Medical Leave Act. She said that would at least guarantee her her job when she felt better. That was definitely a huge relief, she said.

The law known as FMLA has enabled millions of people to take unpaid leave from work for a broad range of personal and family health issues since it was enacted in 1993. Considered by its advocates to be an important protection for those trying to balance family and work, the act allows workers to take as many as 12 weeks of unpaid leave in any 12-month period to care for a newborn or a sick child, spouse or parent, or to recuperate from their own serious medical condition, without fear of losing their job.

Many fans say FMLA helps avoid costly nursing-home or other institutional stays and also lowers employers' turnover costs by helping to retain workers. In recent years, the law's grown in importance for baby boomers who increasingly need to take off from work to care for an elderly parent.

The Rules
Employees can take FMLA leave for a broad range of serious health conditions, from episodic ailments like migraines to life-threatening illnesses like cancer and for treatments such as radiation therapy. The law applies only to companies with 50 or more employees.

If the reason for leave is foreseeable, such as the birth of a child or a planned surgery, an employee is required to give at least 30 days notice before the FMLA leave is to begin. In the case of a medical emergency, notice must be given as soon as practicable. More information on FMLA regulations can be found at the Labor Dept.'s Web site at dol.gov. Congress is currently considering legislation to expand the act to cover airline employees, who may not qualify because of irregular work schedules, and to provide as many as six months of unpaid leave to workers caring for family members injured during military service.

Intermittent Leaves
Under certain circumstances, employees can take the 12 weeks of unpaid leave intermittently. This type of leave is most often taken by people with chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, back pain and severe migraines. The Labor Dept. estimates that 1/4 of people who took FMLA leave in 2005 did so intermittently. But this type of leave, in which workers break up their leave into small increments and often give little notice to supervisors, has developed into an area of contention between companies and employees. The tensions became visible when the Labor Dept. issued a request late last year for comments on FMLA and received more than 15,000 responses from workers, companies, law firms and unions, far more than expected.

While FMLA requests made by employees go smoothly in the vast majority of cases, some workers say companies are making it more difficult to qualify for leave and requiring 2nd or 3rd opinions from health-care providers. Some say they have been fired or punished with worse assignments when they return to their jobs.

Some employers for their part are on the lookout for fraud & have even hired investigators to check up on employees. One consulting firm based in Cincinnati charges $600 a day to send an investigator, equipped with tiny cameras hidden in buttons or hats, to videotape workers on FMLA leave. In one case, the company found a worker taking FMLA leave in the spring to start a landscaping business and another during the winter, for a snowplow business.