§1312 Rights and Protections Under Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993

Summary

Covered employees get the family and medical leave rights from sections 101–105 of the Family and Medical Leave Act. When applying leave for the specific events named in section 102(a)(1)(A) or (B), special rules in subsection (d) also apply. The law says "employer" means any employing office. An "eligible employee" is a covered employee who has worked 12 months and at least 1,250 hours in the past 12 months, but that 12-month/1,250-hour requirement does not apply to the specific leaves in 102(a)(1)(A) or (B). If the rights are violated, the remedy is the same kind of relief (including possible liquidated damages) that section 107(a)(1) of the FMLA provides. A covered employee may choose to use paid leave instead of unpaid leave for those family events. The paid leave allowed includes the weeks of paid parental leave the office provides for the birth or placement and, in that 12-month period, any additional paid vacation, sick, or similar leave the office gives. An office cannot force an employee to use other paid leave before using paid parental leave. Paid parental leave must be paid from regular salary funds, cannot carry over past the 12-month period, and is not limited by certain other leave caps. The Board must issue regulations to put these rules into effect, generally matching the Department of Labor rules unless the Board shows good reason to change them. Subsections (a) and (b) took effect one year after January 23, 1995; subsection (c) took effect one year after the required study was sent to Congress.