§2614 Employment and benefits protection

Summary

Employers must put an employee who took approved leave back in their old job or give them a job that has the same pay, benefits, and working conditions when the employee returns. Time off does not make an employee lose benefits they earned before the leave. While on leave, employees do not keep accruing seniority or other benefits they would have earned if they had kept working. Employers can require a doctor’s note from a health care provider if the worker was off for their own serious health condition, unless a stronger state law or union rule says otherwise. Employers can also ask employees on leave to report sometimes about their plans to come back. If a worker is a salaried employee in the top 10 percent of pay among employees who work within 75 miles of the same place, the employer can refuse to restore the worker only if keeping the job open would cause a serious financial harm to the business, the employer tells the worker as soon as it knows, and the worker chooses not to return after getting that notice. Employers must keep the employee’s group health insurance the same during the leave. If the employee does not come back after leave ends, the employer may get back the insurance costs paid during unpaid leave unless the worker cannot return because the serious health condition continues or other things beyond the worker’s control. Employers may require timely medical certification from the right health care provider to support not returning, and that certification must show the person could not work or needed to care for a family member on the day the leave ended.