New Jersey FMLA Lawyers

You Have Rights When It Comes to Medical Leave in NJ & PA

If you work for a private employer with 50 or more employees, a federal or state government agency, or local educational agency, you may be entitled to take job-protected medical leave.  The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law that allows employees to take unpaid job-protected leave for up to 12 weeks in a 12-month period under certain circumstances. 

If you are expecting the birth of a child, adopting a child, or need to provide care for yourself or a severely ill relative, you may have a qualifying reason to take protected leave from your job.  Protected leave means that you employer must hold your job for you during your absence. 

If your employer denies your request for FMLA despite a qualifying reason or retaliates against you for requesting or taking leave, The Law Firm of Morgan Rooks, P.C. can help you take legal action. We represent workers in a variety of employment law matters and can help if you have a claim involving unfair or unlawful treatment related to FMLA leave. Our FMLA attorneys in New Jersey offer each client a personalized experience that takes their unique situation and goals into account.

Contact Our Team at (856) 746-6332 or Online Today for a Free Consultation with a medical leave attorney near you.

The FMLA Provides Job Protection 

Upon an employee’s return to work following leave under the FMLA, the employer is required to restore the employee to the same job or a substantially similar job as the one that the employee had prior to leave. A “substantially similar” job is one with at least equivalent pay and benefits to the job filled in the employee’s absence. Employees can also expect seniority accrual, cost of living adjustments, or unconditional raises made during their absence if coworkers taking non-FMLA leave receive these benefits as well.  The FMLA also requires employers to maintain group health insurance coverage for eligible employees while they are on unpaid leave. 

Eligibility for FMLA Leave

Not all employees are eligible for FMLA leave. Employees are eligible if they:

• Worked for a covered employer for at least 12 months,
• Have at least 1,250 hours of service with the employer during the 12 months before their FMLA leave starts, and
• Work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within a 75-mile radius.

Covered employers are:

• Private-sector employers who employ 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks in either the current calendar year or previous calendar year,
• Federal, State, and local government employers, regardless of the number of employees, and
• Local educational agencies (including public school boards, public elementary and secondary schools, and private elementary and secondary schools, regardless of the number of employees).

Qualifying Reasons for FMLA Leave

FMLA leave is available to employees for their own serious health condition. A serious health condition is a condition that makes the employee unable to perform the functions of their job. FMLA is also available for other reasons unrelated to an employee’s own serious health condition.

Other qualifying reasons for FMLA leave include:

• The birth of a child for bonding (this is available to mothers as well as fathers)
• Adoption or foster care placement
• To care for an immediate family member’s serious health condition
• To care for a family member injured while on active duty in the military

An employer can require the employee to submit a certification from a health care provider to support the need for FMLA leave to care for a covered family member with a serious health condition or for the employee’s own serious health condition. The FMLA prohibits an employer from interfering with, restraining, or denying the exercise of, an employee’s right to FMLA leave.

If your reason for requesting FMLA leave doesn’t align with any of these, you may not qualify. If it does and your employer is refusing to permit leave – or has retaliated against you for requesting or taking leave – immediately contact our FMLA attorneys in New Jersey for legal assistance.

FMLA Violations by Employers

Examples of Common FMLA Violations

Violations occur when a covered employer interferes with an employee’s FMLA rights under the law. 

Some common FMLA violations include:

• Failing to display general notice about the FMLA in the workplace
• Failing to notify an employee of his/her eligibility for FMLA leave within 5 days of the employee’s leave request
• Harassing employees to shorten their leave and return to work sooner than the certified leave period
• Improperly denying leave
• Requiring employees to work from home while on FMLA leave
• Requiring an employee to recertify the need for leave more frequently than every 30 days
• Discontinuing employee health insurance and other benefits during FMLA leave

Violations of the FMLA also occur when a covered employer retaliates against an employee for using leave:

• Using FMLA leave against employees in performance reviews
• Failing to reinstate the employee to an equivalent position
• Terminating an employee in close proximity to the use of leave
• Demoting or refusing to promote an employee because they took leave
• Counting absences covered under protected leave against the employer’s attendance policies
• Removing benefits or key job responsibilities from an employee due to use of leave

If your employer failed to protect your job, interfered with your right to leave, or retaliated against you for utilizing FMLA leave, consult with our Pennsylvania and New Jersey employment lawyers for help. The Law Firm of Morgan Rooks, P.C. has successfully represented numerous clients in FMLA matters, making sure their rights are protected throughout the process.

New Jersey's Family Leave Act (NJFLA)

The New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA) offers protections for employees who work in the State of New Jersey. The NJFLA states that eligible employees have the right to take up to 12 weeks of leave every 24 months to care for a family member's serious medical condition.

Employees who work for a state or local government agency, or a company with 30 or more employees and you have been employed for at least 1 year (and have worked at least 1,000 hours in the past 12 months may qualify for protected leave under the NJFLA. 

Importantly, the NJFLA does not offer time off for an employee to care for their own medical conditions. However, the NJFLA does have a wider definition of "family member" in determining leave.

In addition to children, parents, and spouses, the NJFLA considers the following as qualifying family members for leave:

• Siblings
• Grandparents
• Foster children and parents
• In-laws
• Domestic partners

Leave under the FMLA and NJFLA is Unpaid

Neither the FMLA nor the NJFLA require employers to pay employees taking their protected leave. However, some employers do have policies in place to allow employees to use their paid time off benefits during their leave.

Job Protection and Retaliation Under FMLA

Your Job Is Protected

When an employee takes leave under the FMLA or NJFLA, their employment must be restored to the same or a substantially similar job as they had prior to leave. A “substantially similar” job is one with at least equivalent pay and benefits to the job filled in the employee’s absence. Employees can also expect seniority accrual, cost of living adjustments, or unconditional raises made during their absence if coworkers taking non-FMLA leave receive these benefits as well. The FMLA also requires employers to maintain group health insurance coverage for eligible employees while they are on unpaid leave. 

Not all instances where an employee loses their job during FMLA leave are illegal. If a reduction in staff, elimination of certain positions, or any rollbacks in overtime availability and other benefits occurred, the employee on FMLA leave may be subjected to these changes. This is typically only the case if such changes would have occurred regardless of whether or not the employee took leave.