FMLA Basics

• If you work for a private employer with 50 or more employees who live within 75 miles of your workplace, your employer must comply with the FMLA if you qualify for benefits. If you work for a public agency, whether federal, state, local or school-related. you can receive FMLA benefits even if there are less than 50 employees. Your FMLA benefits include 12 work weeks of unpaid leave, with group health benefits, and the right the return to your job after taking the leave.
  
  

Eligibility

• To qualify for FMLA benefits, you must meet two job-related requirements: work for your employer for 12 months and have worked a minimum of 1,250 hours during those 12 months. The FMLA specifies several family-related reasons for taking leave, such caring for a newborn or newly adopted child, and also provides that you are entitled to leave because of your own serious medical condition that renders you incapacitated and unable to work. FMLA leave can be taken in one 12-week block or in periodic increments throughout the eligible 12-month period.
  
  

Workers' Compensation Basics

• Your workers' compensation benefits are specified in the state law where you work and these vary significantly from state to state. As a general rule, you qualify for workers' compensation benefits if you are injured on the job. Your employer will be responsible for paying for your medical treatment and rehabilitation. In most situations, you are entitled to reinstatement in your job when you are able to return to work.
  
  

Coordinating FMLA and Workers' Compensation

• If your injury requires that you take leave from your job for workers' compensation purposes, your injury most likely constitutes a qualifying serious medical condition under the FMLA. Your employer has the right to notify you that your 12-week FMLA leave will count against your absence. This notice must be in writing and can be given using an optional form provided by the U.S. Department of Labor. Your employer can also require that you use any accrued paid vacation or sick leave concurrently with your FMLA leave.