No matter how responsible and dedicated you may be to your job, medical and family emergencies do come up from time to time and may cause you to miss work.

Fortunately, in the United States, the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, may allow you to take the time off work you need without the fear of losing your job. Is an employer required to tell employees about FMLA leave though?

The answer is “yes.”

The FMLA allows eligible employees who work for a covered employer to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave when certain family and medical reasons require.

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Although the law does not require your employer to pay you during FMLA leave, your job is protected.

Not only must your job remain protected while you are out on FMLA leave but any group health insurance benefits you have must also remain intact.

Eligible reasons to take FMLA include:

• 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;

Federal law also requires your employer to provide you with notice of your rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act.  As a general rule, the provisions of the FMLA, including the notification requirements, apply if you work for a private employer with 50 or more employees, a public employer, or a public or private elementary or secondary school.

The requirements of the FMLA dictate that your employer must display a poster about the FMLA in plain view where all employees are likely to see it. The poster must advise workers of the general FMLA provisions and explain how to file a complaint with the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor.

An employer who fails to display the required poster faces a civil money penalty for each violation.

Along with requiring your employer to display a general notice about the FMLA, the law says your employer must:

• Provide employees with general notice about the FMLA
• Notify employees concerning their eligibility status and rights and responsibilities under the FMLA
• Notify employees whether specific leave is designated as FMLA leave and the amount of time that will count against their FMLA leave entitlement

If you have additional questions or concerns about FMLA leave or employment law in general, contact the experienced Florida employment law attorneys at Celler Legal, P.A.