Legal Question in Employment Law in Florida

Justifiable Reasons for Leave of Absence

My wife had worked retail sales for a large dept store for almost 10 years with a fixed part time schedule that coincides with her need to drop off and pick up the kids from school. last year, the store was sold to a larger retail dept store chain, but her schedule is still grandfathered in. in the past, she has been allowed a leave of 2 or 3 weeks (unpaid) in addition to her 2 weeks vacation, to travel with me to the northeast where i work during that time. without her and our children coming with me, i would not see them for 5 weeks. this year, they are giving her a hard time about it and said she could not take a leave and would need to quit, then be rehired under the terms of the new management (possibly meaning lesser pay and a new schedule that would conflict with our children's school schedules). my question is, in the state of florida, what are the legal requirements whereby an employer must grant a leave of absense? she is the primary caregiver of the kids, and as i am self emplyoyed and suffered a hardship due to last year's hurricane wilma, is she protected?


Asked on 5/01/06, 10:07 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Keith Stern Shavitz Law Group

Re: Justifiable Reasons for Leave of Absence

Florida has no law requiring any vacation or other leave. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act generally provides that for employers of at least 50 or more employees (and applying to employees who are full-time employed for at least one consecutive year), an employee can take up to twelve (12) weeks of leave to care for a child with a serious health condition, for childbirth, or for one's own or a spouse's serious health condition. Part-time employees usually are not covered b/c of the hours requirement, and purely needing time off is not generally a basis to trigger the FMLA's protections. For further assistance, please consult with an attorney directly to learn what rights may exist.

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Answered on 5/01/06, 12:15 pm


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