The Family Medical Leave Act generally allows an employee who has worked for a covered employer for more than a year and 1250 hours in the past 12 months to take leave for a serious health condition for the employee or an immediate family member. The specific details to determine if you are covered by the FMLA can be found at the U.S. Department of Labor’s website. To have a serious health condition under the FMLA, one is claiming that the condition prevents him or her from working in some capacity and for some amount of time. It is not a device to take time off when the employer has denied a request to time off for vacation or personal reasons. One employee learned this the hard way. Sara worked for an employer in Michigan. She injured her back in a car accident several years ago; it was a diagnosed injury – it was not fabricated and it caused her back pain. Sara had been approved for FMLA leave by the employer in the past without trouble. Sara, however, was fired for claiming she was incapacitated an unable to work while on FMLA. Her coworkers had learned through Facebook that Sara, over a weekend, had attended Pulaski Days, a local Polish heritage festival. Over a period of at least eight hours, she visited three Polish Halls with a group of her friends. One of her “friends” shared approximately 127 pictures from that day with Sara, who posted, on her Facebook page, 9 pictures featuring herself. Sara’s coworkers were upset because they were doing her work while she was on FMLA leave, and share the Facebook postings with the employer. Sara lost in court, both before the trial court and the appeals court, on her claim that the employer interfered with her FMLA rights and retaliated against her for taking FMLA leave. The Facebook postings "did-in" Sara. In addition, the fact that took FMLA leave a few weeks before the Polish festival over a holiday weekend when she had no accrued vacation leave was not a helpful fact. So, if you are on FMLA leave, act appropriately and think how others may perceive your actions. Don’t become a Sara!
