Legal Question in Employment Law in Iowa

Vacation agreement

My wife started a new job in August after being at her lasst job for 8 years. She has suffered with migraine headaches for years and her new job knew this upon hire due to being are medical office. We have vacation to Florida with are kids over x-mas and this was planned and payed for 1 year in advance. She told her manager before she was hired that she would need this time off or she could not come to work there. Now, 8 days befire we leave they said that she may not be able to have this time off due to her missing some days with headaches. They say she is not eligable for FLMA and seem to be diong evering they can to get her to quit. IS there agian she can do to protect her job.


Asked on 12/05/06, 7:00 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
James R. Becker, Jr. Becker Law Firm

Re: Vacation agreement

I cannot speak to anything in Iowa state law, but the federal laws do not grant much relief to your situation.

Under the FMLA, it is clear that your wife is not entitled to any leave because she has not worked there 1 year. Additionally, the FMLA would not protect leave for a vacation, which is the real issue. Finally, most medical offices don't meet the FMLA requirement for being an employer.

However, under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") the employer cannot fire your wife for her migraine headaches. Under the ADA, your wife has to be granted a reasonable accommodation for her condition. Additionally, her employer cannot terminate her employment for a disability.

The ultimate answer is that under federal laws, there is no protection for the vacation time. Iowa state law may provide some sort of contractual protection, but this is the sort of issue that you will need to discuss with an Iowa attorney.

For more information about the ADA and the FMLA you can go to my website www.memphisemploymentlawyer.net, click on the link for "What is illegal?" and then follow the links to leave and discrimination cases. Good luck with your situation.

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Answered on 12/06/06, 10:40 am


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