Who Must Comply?

• Private employers with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius must comply with the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). Federal, state and local government agencies and schools, both public and private, must grant leave even if they have fewer than 50 employees.
  
  

Job Protection

• The FMLA requires an employer to maintain the employee's health coverage and when the employee returns from leave, he must be reinstated to the same or equivalent position as before.
  
  

Employee Obligations

• To go on family medical leave, an employee must provide 30 days notice if possible. If the need for leave is not foreseeable, the employee must provide notice as quickly as possible. Employees must also give their employer enough information to determine if they're eligible for leave.
  
  

Eligibility

• An employee is eligible for FMLA if she has worked for a covered organization for at least a year or more than 1,250 hours.
  
  

State Policies

• Currently, 11 states and the District of Columbia have their own laws on family and medical leave, besides the federal law. For more information, contact the individual state's labor department.