Legal Question in Employment Law in Illinois

Hello, I am an hourly employee, under 40 hours per week at my employer�s preference. I have been with the company for 16 years. My employer recently stated that I, along with my co-workers will be required to work weekends. I am a 50+ employee, whereas my counterparts are much younger (early 30s). Each of my co-workers stated that they cannot work on Sunday as it�s an inconvenience for them. My employer approved ALL of my co-worker�s choice to opt-out of working on Sundays.

My retired husband recently had a stroke and I care for my intellectually disabled adult daughter. During the workweek, my daughter attends a disability workshop which covers my regular workweek care for her. I have explained to my employer that I need to be available on the weekend to not only attend to my daughter, but to care for my husband. They said that I need to take FMLA, report in regularly and provide a return to work date; else they will release me from employment. I am completely confused as I do not need to apply for FMLA. I simply cannot work on the weekend.

Can someone explain Illinois employment law to me, in laymen�s terms? Everyone that I discuss this with doesn�t seem to understand the FMLA approach either. Am I missing something here? At this point, my employer says I don�t have a legitimate excuse to have the weekend off. Keep in mind that they want me to work every Sunday whereas my co-workers do not. It seems that they�re making no effort to balance things out. I would appreciate any serious insight into this situation. As I am at quite a low hourly rate, fees for additional care for my family during the weekend would completely bankrupt us.


Asked on 11/09/12, 11:49 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Betty Tsamis Tsamis Law Firm PC

You can't pick and choose when you are going to work. But, your employer can. It seems unfair that the employer approved Sundays off for co-workers but unless such approval was made because of your status as a caretaker there isn't much you can do. FMLA is the legal route for you to take time off work and protect your job. I understand that this means less income for you because you will ultimately work fewer hours. You might want to consider engaging counsel to write a letter to your employer reminding it of anti-discrimination laws and requesting that you be given weekends off like your co-workers.

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Answered on 11/09/12, 1:07 pm


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