Maryland FMLA and Termination
Posted by Tamara
When an employee has a serious medical condition, that worker is entitled to up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave. This leave for Maryland employees, and for all employees in the United States, is provided by the federal FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993). The worker can take FMLA leave for a serious medical condition, or to care for a spouse, parent or child with serious health problems.
FMLA leave is the federal law, but many states have established their own laws to extend the amount of the leave an employee may take. In Maryland, and other states in the country, when that leave is exhausted, the employee must return to work. If the worker is still unable to resume his or her duties, the employer can terminate that worker. This applies whether the company is union or not.
The employer, though it may seem unreasonable, is not being unfair. The work must be done by someone. Often the company hires a temporary replacement for the absent employee. The employer can not realistically be expected, however, to keep a worker’s job open indefinitely. In fact, before FMLA was enacted, workers requiring extended time off were often terminated after only being absent a few days.
There are a few exceptions to the termination scenario.
An employee who has been left disabled as a result of his or her medical condition may come under the protection of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. This law requires an employer to make reasonable accommodations if doing so will allow the employee to return to work.
If a company extended extra unpaid leave to a worker in the past, it must extend leave for all of its employees.
Several states, including California, Hawaii, Maine and Minnesota have state laws which might protect the employees job. Employees working under a contract, union or another collective agreement, which provides a greater benefit than the FMLA, are entitled to that benefit. In those cases, the employer must follow the tenets of that agreement or contract.
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