Each and every employee is entitled to emergency leave in his/her tenure for  a number of reasons. It’s the role of the employer via the Human Resource manager to offer leave to the employees. The leave could range from that of sickness, pregnancy and baby bonding among many more. There exist State and Federal laws whose main role is to ensure that matters that have to do with leave are observed in the right way. There is Family and Medical Leave Act which promotes the rights of the employees. For example, you may be given an emergency leave if you fall ill or one of your family members does. The employers must be held liable if they deny you such leave.

What the State and Federal Law Protects

If there were no laws that safeguard the rights of the employees, there is no doubt that they will all be working in a harsh environment. The employers will do whatever they want with no fear because as an employee, you will have nothing to do. One of the common mistakes that this law protects is to make sure that you are offered an emergency leave anytime there is a need. For example, the employer isn’t supposed to force you to work when you are not feeling well. In fact, you will be unproductive if he does so.

What the Family and Medical Leave Act Calls For

The FMLA law requires the employers to provide their staff who are registered with time off due to some reasons such as illness of the person or kin. During pregnancy, emergency leave must also be awarded to the person or her partner.

How Long Does the Leave Take?

In general, it will be wise to state that this leave can take as long as 12 weeks per year depending on the cause. It can be applied to the following cases:

• Employee’s Sickness

• Bonding with a child (It could be yours or adopted)

• To look after a family member who is seriously ill

• An urgent need for a person who has a family member who worked in the military. (If one of your family members once worked in the military, when there is an emergency need to look after him/her, the leave could be as long as up to 26 months)

What You Shouldn’t Forget About Emergency Leave

During your emergency leave, you should know that your health insurance still covers you. Once you are done with your FMLA leave, you should get back to your original position without demotion.

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To ensure that the employee’s rights are protected, the State of California has introduced paid sick leave. Workers should have fun and be healthy in an environment where their rights are considered the topmost priority.

Due to the lifestyle people follow and stress, anyone could fall ill, and coming to work when you are sick sometimes is impossible.

What is Paid Sick Leave?

These are additional leaves that are added to an employee’s leave fund. This makes them eligible to take off from work when they are sick and get paid for the particular days that they could not be present.

Paid sick leave is for the benefit of the employee so that they can stay back home and relax for the days that they have been sick. It is every working individual’s right, and the employer has to enable sick leave for each and every employee that works in their organization.

The Paid Sick Leave law in California was amended on the 3rd of April, 2016, enabling sick leave for working individuals, whether on a full time or part time basis.

How to Get Paid Sick Leave?

You are entitled to paid sick leave if you are a full time or part time employee in any organization. The sick leave policy in California states that an employee who works for 30 hours is entitled to 1 hour of paid sick leave. Every employee who has joined an organization after July 1, 2015, is eligible to get a paid sick leave.

The employee who works on a full-time basis can avail up to 8 days of paid sick leave in a year according to the calculation for counting paid sick leave days. If an employee wants to roll over their paid sick leave for next year they can often do that. Employees can apply for sick leave in writing or ask for a leave verbally.

When Do You Gain Sick Leave?

An employee who has completed 90 days of employment in an organization is eligible for paid sick leave. Following are the conditions, under which an employee can ask for Paid Sick Leave,

• If they fall ill.
• To go for a preventive check up.
• For a family members’ health check up.
• If an employee is a victim of sexual assault or domestic violence.

These leaves are to ensure and protect an employee’s working right. It makes them feel safe to work in such healthy atmosphere.

If an employee faces discrimination or ill behavior from their employer upon asking for sick leave, they can file a complaint against their employer.

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