Recently in Family Medical Leave Category

The Massachusetts State Senate recently approved legislation to ensure that men are able to take time off work when they have children and still keep their jobs, according to The Eagle Tribune. A law like this may bring up questions for Texas employment lawyers and lawmakers, because it could encourage the Lone Star state to adopt similar measures.

Under the federal Family Medical Leave Act, both men and woman are guaranteed up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave when they have children. Yet, there are many provisions under FMLA that don't allow every employee the right to take this much time off work. FindLaw states that FMLA only needs to apply to companies that have 50 or more employees. If a company is covered by FMLA, then an employee is only qualified for FMLA benefits if he or she has worked for the company for at least 12 months and has worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months immediately prior to taking the leave.

Under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), most employees of large companies have the right to take extended time away from work in order to handle certain family or medical needs. Employers that are covered by FMLA can be sued if they don't let an employee take such time or punish an employee for taking the family medical leave.

The Southeast Texas Record reports that a manager for the Office Depot in Frisco was allegedly demoted from her position after taking time off to deal with the death of her father. Because the ex-manager, Sheri Vigoda, believes that her demotion was unlawful, she has filed a lawsuit against Office Depot of Texas LP and Office Depot Inc. in the Sherman division of the Eastern District of Texas.

Here's a very sad employment law story that Texas employment lawyers will be dealing with.

The Southeast Texas Record reports that Natalie Schroeder was seven months pregnant with twins, but that doctors had considered her pregnancy a high risk. Doctors required the woman to see a physician and a specialist frequently with the appointments taking roughly an hour each time.

Her employer had accommodated her appointments for seven months, but she was forced to miss an appointment in her seventh month of pregnancy after her supervisor had urged her to finish up a report. But three days later, Ms. Schroeder went into labor and delivered one healthy baby and one stillborn son. The woman alleges that that her son's fetal distress would have been recognized and possibly prevented if her supervisor had allowed her to go in for her doctor's appointment.

A controversial piece of legislation could expand the Family Medical Leave Act to provide up to two weeks of leave -- unpaid if an employer chooses -- to people not covered by the military leave provisions of the existing FMLA.

The Navy Times reports that House Bill 3247, also known as The Military Family Leave Act, is now pending before two congressional committees. The current law has several provisions that can deny employees of family medical leave. For example, an employee is not covered under FMLA if he or she has worked for less than one year with the current employer. The employee must work at least 1,250 in a year and must work for a company or firm that employs at least 50 people.

A former Texas state trooper is alleging violations of the Family Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to the Southeast Texas Record. Edwin K. Lang filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of Public Safety on March 1, in the Eastern District of Texas.

The lawsuit stems from an incident in which Mr. Lang was hospitalized because of a heart attack. After treatment, Mr. Lang returned to work with the Texas Department of Public Safety, but requested to only do administrative work and not respond to calls on the road. This was so Mr. Lang could heal properly.

Bryan Dickenson of Garland, Texas can finally get time off from his company, AT&T Inc., so that he can take care of his longtime domestic partner Bill Sugg, who recently suffered from a debilitating stroke. However, the gay employee had to go through an uphill battle to get extended time off from work.

Most employees are covered through the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) so they can take up to twelve weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to take care of a sick family member, according to FindLaw.

Good news came early this year for U.S flight attendants and pilots. These workers now have the same rights that most other people already have in the workplace. The Houston Chronicle reports that President Barack Obama recently signed a bill into a law, giving airline crews coverage under the Family Medical Leave Act. The signing of this legislation comes almost 17 years after the Family Medical Leave Act was originally passed.

Now, airline crews may take unpaid leave for up to 12 weeks if they need to tend to newborns, recover from an illness, or take care of a sick family member.

Houston employment lawyer Stephen Roppolo called this new law a "no-brainer" in the Houston Chronicle, saying that flight crews deserve the same rights as everybody else.

In some cities like San Francisco and Milwaukee, there are laws requiring most employers to provide workers with a limited number of paid sick-leave days. However, there are no laws in Texas or at the federal level that require private-sector employees to provide paid leave of any kind.

The New York Times reports that the United States is one of the very few wealthy nations in the world that doesn't mandate any form of paid sick leave; it is a country where 40 percent of the workers in the private sector don't receive paid leave from employers.