Dallas Employment Lawyer Blog
Anita Basavaraju
Balancing work with a serious illness, a new baby, or a family member’s health crisis is one of the hardest things employees face — and knowing your legal rights can make all the difference. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law designed to give eligible employees time away from work for these situations without risking their job. Here’s what you need to know.
Who Can Get FMLA Leave
Not every employee automatically qualifies. To be eligible, you generally need to meet three conditions:
You must have worked for your employer for at least 12 months (the months don’t have to be consecutive), you must have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months before your leave starts, and you must work at a location where your employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles.
On the employer side, FMLA applies to private companies with 50 or more employees for at least 20 workweeks in the current or prior year, as well as all public agencies (federal, state, and local governments) and public and private elementary and secondary schools, regardless of size. So if you work for a very small company, FMLA protections may not apply — though your state may have its own family leave law that fills that gap.
How Long FMLA Leave Lasts
Eligible employees can take up to 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period for most qualifying reasons. There’s one exception: if you’re caring for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness, you may be entitled to up to 26 workweeks in a single 12-month period.
It’s worth noting that FMLA leave is unpaid by default — the law protects your job and benefits, but it doesn’t require your employer to pay you during that time, unless you use accrued paid leave (like vacation or sick time) concurrently, or your state has a paid family leave program layered on top.
What Situations Qualify for FMLA
You can take FMLA leave for a fairly broad range of reasons, including the birth of a child and to care for a newborn within the first year, placement of a child with you for adoption or foster care, caring for your spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition, your own serious health condition that makes you unable to perform your job, and certain needs arising from a family member’s military deployment (called “qualifying exigency” leave), as well as caring for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness.
A “serious health condition” generally means an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves either inpatient care or continuing treatment by a healthcare provider — chronic conditions, surgeries, and pregnancy-related complications typically qualify.
How to Talk to Your Employer About FMLA
Bringing up medical or family leave with your employer can feel intimidating, but the process is more structured than it might seem. Where possible, give your employer at least 30 days’ advance notice if the need for leave is foreseeable, such as a planned surgery or the expected birth of a child. If the situation is unexpected — a sudden illness or emergency — notify your employer as soon as practicable, even if that just means a quick call the same day.
You don’t need to say the words “FMLA” when you first ask for time off; you just need to give your employer enough information for them to reasonably determine the leave may qualify. From there, your employer is required to notify you of your eligibility and give you the necessary paperwork, typically within five business days. Be prepared to provide medical certification from a healthcare provider if your employer requests it, and keep a copy of everything you submit. If your company has an HR department, that’s typically the best place to formally request leave and get clarity on how your specific situation will be handled.
Your Job Is Protected
This is one of the most important parts of FMLA: your employer cannot fire you, demote you, or otherwise penalize you for taking FMLA leave that you’re legitimately entitled to. When you return from qualifying leave, you’re entitled to be reinstated to the same position or to an equivalent one, with the same pay, benefits, and other employment terms. Your employer also has to keep your group health insurance active during your leave, on the same terms as if you had kept working.
The law also protects you from retaliation more broadly. Employers cannot use your FMLA leave against you in performance reviews or attendance policies, threaten your job or a promotion because you took leave, or interfere with your right to request or take leave in the future. That said, FMLA doesn’t shield you from decisions unrelated to your leave — if your position would have been eliminated in a layoff regardless of whether you took leave, or you were going to be terminated for a legitimate, documented performance issue that predates your leave, FMLA generally won’t protect against that. If you believe you were let go or punished because you took FMLA leave, you can file a complaint with the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division or, in some cases, pursue a private lawsuit.
What’s Different in Texas
Texas doesn’t have its own state family and medical leave law, so private-sector workers rely entirely on federal FMLA — if your employer has fewer than 50 employees within 75 miles, you likely have no legal right to job-protected leave at all. Texas does allow employers to voluntarily offer paid family leave through a private insurance option created in 2023, but nothing requires them to, and few currently do. State government employees have it a bit better, with a Family Leave Pool for donating leave to coworkers in crisis and a paid parental leave benefit under state law. And because Texas is an at-will employment state, FMLA’s job-protection guarantee is especially important here — it’s one of the few legal footholds against being let go around the time you take medical or family leave.
If you think you have been unlawfully denied FMLA protections, contact one of my talented colleagues in Houston or Austin today.
This article is for general informational purposes and isn’t a substitute for legal advice. If you’re facing a specific situation with your employer, especially one involving termination or retaliation, consider consulting an employment attorney.