labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Some people may have questions about the Vermont FMLA law. FMLA stands for Family and Medical Leave Act, and a poster concerning FMLA should be placed at all jobsites throughout the state. At the moment, we’re between the holidays marking Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, which offers the perfect opportunity to reexamine this law.

The Family Medical Leave Act is in place to help when employees have an accident, experience an illness, or in some other way find themselves distracted from their jobs. If a company employs 50 or more workers, then their business must be in compliance with the regulations of FMLA.  In the case of public employees and school teachers, they are covered by FMLA regardless of the number of employees.

What FMLA does is it allows employees each year to take up to 12 weeks off without losing their jobs. This time off is granted only under certain circumstances. Included in these acceptable circumstances are life events such as serious illnesses suffered by an employee or close family member, the birth of a child, and the adoption of a child. A child being placed into a foster home is also an acceptable circumstance.

Because the Vermont FMLA law does not automatically protect employees’ jobs, precautions should be taken. To make certain employees understand the status of their leave, employers should give these employees notification in writing immediately that instructs how the employee should maintain contact with the workplace. The deadlines included in these instructions are important, and employees who are on leave need to follow the written instructions they receive from their employer. These written instructions should help employees stay in good standing with the company that employs them.

The Vermont FMLA is a program of the federal government. Although certain states have their own FMLA standards rather than follow the federal program, Vermont has decided to follow the federal program. Under federal law, time spent on active military service counts towards FMLA eligibility.

I have noticed that every state has some sort of law protecting family members who have to leave work for an extended amount of time in order to take care of themselves or their families. In Vermont, the law governing this permission is called the Vermont Parental and Family Leave Act.

Under the tenants of Vermont’s Parental Leave Law, employers who have 10 or more employees who work an average of 30 hours per week over the course of a year are covered.

The Vermont Family Leave Law (note the difference between the two laws) includes short-term family leave and covers employers with 15 or more employees who work an average of 30 hours per week over the course of one year.

If an employee works for a company that has more than 10 or more than 15 employees, and if the employee has worked for an average of 30 hours a week, then he or she is entitled to leave under one or both laws. During every 12-month period, the employee is entitled to take up to 12 weeks off of unpaid leave.

Parental Leave is the leave that is allowed during pregnancy and after the birth of a child. Additionally, you can take Parental Leave if you adopt a child under the ago of 16. When you adopt, you have up to a year to take that time off with the child and it does not have to be taken immediately following the adoption.

The Family Leave Act is for employees who have a serious illness or who have a child, stepchild, ward, foster child, parent, spouse or spouse-in-law with a serious illness. An employee may also take a short-term family leave up to four hours in any 30 day period as long as the employee does not take more than 24 hours in any 12-month period. This leave is unpaid.