People constantly lament about how work-life balance is elusive. It is true that, at the national level, the United States does not require employers to provide paid leave for employees who miss work due to their own illnesses or family caregiving commitments. This does not mean that legal protections for workers who take medical leave or family leave are nonexistent, though. Federal law prohibits employers from discriminating against employees because they take a leave of absence from work because of their own health or to act as a caregiver to a family member.
Likewise, Colorado is one of several states with a statewide program that provides paid family and medical leave to employees. This means that the law is on your side if you need to take a medical leave or family leave from your job. Unfortunately, employers do not always make it easy for employees to exercise their legal rights, including the right to family leave or medical leave.
The Boulder Family and Medical Leave Act lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys LLP can help you if you need to take family leave or medical leave but are worried about pushback from your employer, or if your employer retaliated against you for exercising your right to take family leave or medical leave.
The Federal Family and Medical Leave Act
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law that protects workers from losing their jobs if they take a leave of absence from work to undergo medical treatment or to care for a family member who is ill or for a new baby. The situations covered under FMLA are sufficient that you do not have to worry about your employer telling you that your reason for requesting the FMLA leave doesn’t count as a real illness or a real family relationship. You can take an FMLA leave for your own health if you have any health problem that requires you to miss work for more than a few days. It might be a newly diagnosed illness, an acute injury resulting from an accident, or a chronic illness for which your symptoms have recently worsened. Likewise, you can take FMLA leave to care for a family member who needs your care because of ill health.
FMLA applies to any close family member, including your parent, spouse, child, or sibling; step-relatives count, too. You can also take FMLA leave to care for a new family member, whether the new family member is a new baby born to you or your wife, a child you have recently adopted, or a foster child who has just joined your family; FMLA leave is available for all newly adopted or newly fostered children, not only infants.
Unfortunately, what you get when you take FMLA leave is chump change. FMLA only guarantees an unpaid leave of absence from work, and the maximum duration of FMLA leave is 12 weeks. Furthermore, not everyone is eligible for FMLA leave. You only become eligible after you have worked for your employer on a full-time basis for a year. If you are new to your job, or if your employer has been keeping you at just below full-time status, despite the fact that you have worked at your job for more than a year, FMLA leaves you in the lurch.
FAMLI Provides Paid Leave for Colorado Employees Who Take a Temporary Leave of Absence From Work for Health or Family Caregiving Reasons
The good news is that, as your high school government teacher used to say, most of the laws that affect your daily life are state laws, not federal laws. In the domain of employment law, federal laws are a minimum requirement. States may pass their own laws that give workers greater protections than what the federal law requires. Luckily for you, Colorado is one of the states that is more generous to workers than federal law. Consider that, in Colorado, the minimum wage is $15.16 per hour, while the federal minimum wage is barely half of that.
Colorado law protects workers who take family leave or medical leave much more than the federal FMLA does. In 2020, Colorado implemented a program called the Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program. The legislation arose as the COVID-19 pandemic threw into focus the fact that most employees have family caregiving obligations, and that everyone’s health is more fragile than we think it is. At the beginning of 2024, workers began applying for FAMLI benefits and receiving them. FAMLI provides paid leave for workers on family and medical leave.
Furthermore, the qualifying reasons that workers can receive FAMLI benefits are broader than what the FMLA covers. You can get paid FAMLI leave because of your own illness or that of a close family member, or to care for a newborn, newly adopted, or newly fostered child, like you can with FMLA. You can also use FAMLI benefits if your family is preparing for and adjusting to a family member’s military deployment or if you are coping with the effects of domestic violence and sexual assault, including legal actions arising from your ordeal.
Taking Family Leave or Medical Leave is a Protected Activity
Like workers’ compensation or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), FAMLI is an insurance program, and insurance companies are not known for their generosity. Your request for FAMLI leave might be an inconvenience for your employer, but it is your right to take it. If your employer takes an adverse action against you because of your FAMLI leave, this is employer retaliation. Taking family leave or medical leave is a protected activity. If you file a complaint about your employer’s retaliation, you might also cite discrimination based on sex, marital status, pregnancy, or disability, if any of these are applicable to your situation.
Contact HKM Employment Attorneys, LLP, About Family and Medical Leave
The Boulder employment lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys, LLP, can counsel you about taking family leave or medical leave. Contact the employment lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys LLP in Boulder, Colorado, to set up a consultation.
