Family Medical Leave Act Case Study

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) “prohibits discriminating against an individual in the selection process” (Moran, 2014, p. 32) due to a potential disability. A disability can be defined as a mental or physical condition that can result in some sort of handicap. As a result, the employer may be required to accommodate the people who are considered as disabled, to help them perform his or her job duties.

You get the phone call in the middle of the night. Your son or daughter has been in a serious accident and is hospitalized in critical condition. After several day’s they come home from the hospital with several broken bones and require your around the clock attention for the next eight to twelve weeks. You just got over a serious medical condition yourself which you acquired while on vacation and do not have any vacation time or sick time to take off. Do you have to quit your job? Can your employer terminate you for taking time off to be with your child? What options do you have? What can your employer do for you? Well, the answer lies in the Family and Medical Leave Act.

“Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Title I does not allow any private employers, local, and state governments, labor unions and employment agencies from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in job application procedures, firing, hiring, job training, advancement and other terms, privileges, and conditions of employment” (The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity

The Family and Medical Leave Act sets regulations for job-protected leave related to family and medical reasons. FMLA applies to organizations with 50 or more employees working within 75 miles of the employee’s worksite (“Employment Laws,” n.d., para. 6). Employees who have been with their current employer for 12 months and who have worked 1250 hours of service in the previous 12 months are eligible for 12 weeks of unpaid leave through FMLA (“Eligibility Requirements,” Revised 2013). FMLA covers the following leave reasons:

The balancing act of family and work can be very difficult at times. At some point in everyone’s life, he or she will need to take time off of work to deal with family matters. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 was created to help employees find a balance between the challenging demands of work and home. This Act allows eligible workers that require time off for personal reasons or family emergencies up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave.

Employee B, in accordance with the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA), has been violated with age discrimination due to the fact that his performance review was rated at an “above average” in comparison to the 32 year old that had his annual review rated at “adequate.” The (OWBPA) was an amendment to the (ADEA) in 1990, specifically drafted to ensure that fair treatment and labor rights are afforded to any employee over the age of 40.

The Family and Medical Leave Act sets regulations for job-protected leave related to family and medical reasons. FMLA applies to organizations with 50 or more employees working within 75 miles of the employee’s worksite (“Employment Laws,” n.d., para. 6). Employees who have been with their current employer for 12 months and who have worked 1250 hours of service in the previous 12 months are eligible for 12 weeks of unpaid leave through FMLA (“Eligibility Requirements,” Revised 2013). FMLA covers the following leave reasons:

The disability can range from any form of walking, talking, seeing, hearing, and learning. This law also extends to persons diagnosed with HIV or AIDS as well any person who has completed drug and alcohol rehabilitation. This law was enacted to protect people with disabilities and provide them with employment opportunities. All organizations within in United State of America must provide these disabled employees with various accommodations such as elevators, access lamps, and telephones with hearing impaired equipment. If an organization does not comply with this law they maybe subject to civil penalties such as $55,000 for the first violation or $110,000 for each subsequent violation. If cited for major noncompliance the organization could cause warranty compulsory and punitive damages (United State Department of Labor,

A potential applicant who is wheelchair bound due to paralysis of his lower extremities applied for an open position with company x. The applicant would need to have access to all seven floors in order to do their

According to Gary Dessler, “employers with 15 or more workers are prohibited from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities with regard to applications, hiring, discharge, compensation, advancement, training, or other terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. It also says that employers must make ‘reasonable accommodations’ for physical or mental limitations unless doing so imposes an ‘undue hardship’ on the business.” It not only prohibits discrimination in employment but also outlaws most physical barriers in public accommodations, transportation, telecommunications, and government services.

People with disabilities have become an integral part of the workforce. The ADA forbids discrimination against people with disabilities when recruiting, hiring, training, and compensating employees (Sotoa & Kleiner, 2013). The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodation, communications, and governmental and establishes requirements for telecommunications relay services (activities (Stryker, R. (2013). Employers are not allowed to ask employees if they have a disability. The employers are not allowed to ask employees with disabilities to undergo a medical exam before an offer of employment unless all applicants are required to take the same exam (Kaye, Jans, & Jones,

     The Family and Medical Leave Act was enacted by Congress on February 5, 1993, and it is public law 103-3. This law allows for a person to leave work in certain situations without losing his/her job. An eligible employees must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and at least completed 1250 hours of service. An employee is able to leave work for up to 12 weeks for any of the following reasons: the employee expects a baby in his/her immediate family, the employee expects an adopted child in his/her immediate family, the employee has to take care of an ill family member which includes spouse, parent or his/her own children, and/or the employee has a serious medical

Family and Medical Leave Act was passed by the Congress and signed into the law in 1993 by President Bill Clinton. Since that time, millions of hard working Americans, were able to take up to 12 week of unpaid leave to bond with their newborn or newly adopted child, take care of own or immediate family member health condition or provide a childcare role in case of spouse covered military deployment, without a worry of losing the job or benefits associated with employment. (History of FMLA, 2015). In order to take FMLA leave an employee must meet a series of guidelines that establish eligibility for it, such as working at least 12 months with minimum of 1250 hours in those 12 months for employer who has staff of 50 or more people. According

The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law in 1990. It forbids employment discrimination against people with disabilities who are able to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation. Under ADA, individuals who are defined as disabled are people who have a physical or mental impairment that substantially affects one or more major life activities. Some examples would include impairment in walking, performing manual tasks, speaking, hearing, and learning. The ADA requires that employers only make decisions about applicants with disabilities only on their ability to perform essential job functions.

Under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers with fifteen or more employees are prohibited from discriminating against people with disabilities. Furthermore, the employment provisions of the Act require that employers provide equal opportunity in selecting, testing, and hiring qualified applicants with disabilities, job accommodations for applicants and workers with disabilities when such would not impose due hardship, and equal opportunity in promotion and benefits. (United States Department of Labor). If an employer is found liable for such discrimination, the fines can be extremely high. Therefore, it is important to know the definition of disability as determined by the ADA. A disability is a physical or mental impairment that essentially limits one or more of the major life activities of an individual, a record of having such impairment, or being regarded as having such impairment (Bennett-Alexander and Hartman) and the individual should be able to prove such factors to establish a prima facie case in court. Despite of these definitions, a disability is determined based on the effect the impairment