Our Texas FMLA attorneys want you to understand that many employers can be held liable for actions that violate employee rights in the workplace, as defined by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). If you qualify for FMLA eligibility, you are protected from wrongful termination and employee discrimination in hiring, promoting, disciplining and assigning work tasks based on your desire to take paid or unpaid family leave or medical leave from your job. Allowed reasons to take FMLA leave include caring for an employee’s child, spouse, spouse’s child, parent or servicemember. We can help you protect your employee rights at work.

We believe in empowerment through resolution, because we hear clients say over and over again that they didn’t think they stood a chance against their employer, yet many prevailed. We help them achieve outcomes that are fair. Most clients are able to move on with their lives, with confidence and self-assurance.

How Does the Family Medical Leave Act Protect Employee Rights?

The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected family leave and medical leave, with continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave. Eligible employees are entitled to take 12 workweeks of FMLA family leave or FMLA medical leave in a 12-month period for:

• the birth of a child and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth,
• the placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care and to care for the newly placed child within one year of placement,
• to care for the employee’s spouse, child or parent who has a serious health condition,
• a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job,
• any qualifying situation arising from the employee’s spouse, son, daughter or parent who is a servicemember on active duty.

Also, an eligible employee is entitled to 26 workweeks during a single 12-month period to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness if the employee is the servicemember’s spouse, son, daughter, parent or next of kin.

FMLA Eligibility in Texas

Texas FMLA eligibility rules are similar to federal regulations in that the employee must be employed for 12 months prior to taking family leave or medical leave, and must accumulate 1,250 hours worked in that 12-month period. Emergency family leave or medical leave is also available, for the death of an employee’s spouse, or employee’s spouse’s parent, child, grandparent, grandchild or sibling. Also in Texas, FMLA leave is granted for an eligible employee’s donation of bone marrow, an organ or blood, with no salary deduction.

Recent FMLA Ruling

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced in February 2015 a Final Rule to revise the definition of spouse under FMLA. The Final Rule amends the definition of spouse so that eligible employees in legal same-sex marriages will have FMLA eligibility, regardless of where they live.

Our Clients Tell Us

Click on this link to read some of the many client testimonials that people have sent to thank our employee rights attorneys for getting them back on track. Kilgore & Kilgore can do the same for you.

We Are Flexible

Kilgore & Kilgore is especially sensitive to the need for cost control during the provision of legal services. We employ a variety of flexible fee techniques. Some of these strategies include flat rate fees, contingency fees, reverse contingency fees and modified hourly rates. We can adapt and share with our clients the financial costs of legal actions that achieve the justice and fairness that the legal industry was established to bring.

Reach Out to Us

Our FMLA attorneys are committed to helping defend FMLA eligibility. To learn more about our FMLA practice or to schedule an appointment to discuss matters in confidence with one of our Dallas FMLA attorneys, contact us today. We offer a free review of the facts of your case to help you understand your situation from a legal perspective and whether or how to proceed with an action.