Opinion ID: 199563
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the fmla: an overview

Text: 13 The FMLA applies to private sector concerns that employ fifty or more persons. 29 U.S.C. § 2611(4). Congress enacted it as a means of alleviating the tension that so often exists between the demands of earning a living and the obligations of family life. See Hodgens v. Gen. Dynamics Corp., 144 F.3d 151, 159 (1st Cir. 1998); Price v. City of Fort Wayne, 117 F.3d 1022, 1024 (7th Cir. 1997). To achieve this objective, the FMLA seeks to balance authentic family needs and legitimate employer interests. See 29 U.S.C. § 2601(b)(1), (3). This accommodation entails a set of entitlements for employees and a matched set of rules for employers. 14 An employee becomes eligible for FMLA leave if he or she has been employed by a covered employer for no less than a year and has worked at least 1250 hours during the preceding twelve months. Id. § 2611(2)(A). Once eligible, an employee may take reasonable periods of unpaid leave for medical reasons, for childbirth or adoption, or for the care of a spouse, parent, or child who suffers from a serious health condition. Id. § 2601(b)(2). Leave periods are circumscribed: an eligible employee may take a maximum of twelve workweeks of FMLA leave in any twelve-month span. Id. § 2612(a)(1). Following such a leave, an employee is entitled to reclaim his or her former job (or some other position with equivalent pay, benefits, and conditions of employment). Id. § 2614(a)(1). 15 Ministering to sick children falls within a section of the FMLA that permits a period of leave [i]n order to care for the . . . son [or] daughter of the employee, if such . . . son [or] daughter . . . has a serious health condition. Id. § 2612(a)(1)(C). In providing this protection, the FMLA differentiates between children under eighteen years of age and children eighteen years of age and older, defining a son or daughter as 16 a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco parentis, who is -- 17 (A) under 18 years of age; or 18 (B) 18 years of age or older and incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability. Id. § 2611(12). 2 19 The rules for employers are straightforward. In writing the FMLA, Congress took pains to proscribe employers from interfer[ing] with, restrain[ing], or deny[ing] the exercise of or the attempt to exercise, any right provided by the law. Id. § 2615(a)(1). To this end, an employer may not discharge or otherwise unfairly discriminate against an individual for opposing practices made illegal by the FMLA. Id. § 2615(a)(2). An employer who flouts these rules can be held liable for compensatory damages and, unless the violation occurred in good faith, additional liquidated damages. Id. § 2617(a)(1)(A). Appropriate equitable relief, such as reinstatement, also may be available. Id. § 2617(a)(1)(B).