Using FMLA law as an Weapon against Employment Discrimination Charge
It has been a long time describing such a typical case of FMLA laws in Ohio
. It is an employment issue with an employee who had been out of the office for the treatment of cancer. After the person gets well and wiling to be back on job, the employer is not in a position to take back the employee to his company. There can be a serious allegation against Ohio employee rights violation.
So, how to tackle the situation? Will it be termed as employment discrimination under the law of FMLA act? Is it the employer who seems to be guilty for not retaining the employee after his/her recovery?
Know the employers view point:
Before we start analyzing the way outs let's view the genuine constraints for the employer. Yes, it is a deliberate confession. The employer is running a small company with the strength of only 15 employees. While the employee was out on leave, the economy was shattering leaving out lots of lay offs and salary cuts on work. Under such circumstances of slow business the employer can't afford the employee now.
Apprehension for legal penalties:
But again there is always a possibility of legal intervention that may sue the employer for not allowing the employee to continue with the job. Of course, it's a true confession by the employer that he would retake the employee once the things get fine. But how certain and safe is the position of the employer against law? The concern finally ended up with the petition to an Ohio FMLA lawyer.
What best can be done to protect the employer?
Fortunately being a small company, the employer can take advantage of the loopholes of FMLA law. Employment discrimination rules under FMLA act apply for the companies having 50-75 workers only. So it seems the employer is too small to be covered under the federal law. Moreover Ohio does not have any family law at the state level.
Employer's job:
However there is the rapidity required for the employer's point of view also. During last salary cuts or lay offs the employer should have eliminated the employee position and informed him/her about the decision at that time only. By doing this it would be easier to avoid being appeared that the employer is not illegally discriminating the employee by using FMLA laws.
Concluding the whole discussion the final solution could be like this- First allow the employee to join the office and let him/her work for 2 weeks. Then eliminate the employee position. The reason is that while making the internal changes the employer didn't lay off the employee. But now in this current situation the employer can do it and it wouldn't be regarded as discrimination too.
In this context one shouldn't forget that companies with strong employee strength can't escape the loopholes as discussed. In such case personal attention from an attorney on employer-employee rights is the priority all the times. Consulting resourceful online legal directories for attorney search can also be an apt solution in most of the cases.
Using FMLA law as an Weapon against Employment Discrimination Charge