Legal Question in Medical Leave in California

Congratulations on the adoption of your child! First, an employer can place someone on leave of absence into COBRA. Second, the law and the employer's policies can ask that employees us available and unused sick/vacation pay to compensate them for their time off for said leave. If you have any further questions feel free to contact our office or an employment attorney in your area. Congratulations!

Sincerely, Beth

If an employee qualifies for FMLA leave or its California equivalent, the employer must (in most cases) continue to maintain any health insurance policies that were in effect prior to the leave, under the same terms and conditions. This means if the employee was paying for a portion of the insurance, the employee must continue to do so while on leave. Under family leave laws, eligible employees may take up to 12 weeks off to bond with an adopted child.

If your CA employer has at least 50 employees, and you are employed for at least 12 months, have at least 1,250 hours worked in the 12 months prior to the leave, then you would be eligible for 12 weeks of unpaid FMLA/CFRA maternity/medical leave when you are unable to work [or must care for an immediate family member] because of a �serious health condition�, continuation of group health benefits, restoration to the same or an equivalent job upon return to work, with accrued benefits. The leave may be taken on reasonable intermittent basis if that need is properly documented by your medical provider. Adoption counts as pregnancy medical if needed to care for the child.

If you are out longer than those guarantees, they can fire you.

Upon termination from employment, you are entitled to COBRA conversion of your medical benefits [if any], allowing you to pay for and retain your insurance coverage.

Overriding those stated protections, just because you are on leave does not mean you can�t be terminated. You have no special exemption against lay offs due to business reasons. A company in downsizing can lay off a FMLA leave person, as long as they can show they aren�t targeting him �because of the leave�.

Now, if they violated those rules, contact me for the legal help you'll need. I'll be happy to do so. I've been doing these cases for over 20 years.