The Family and Medical Leave Act may allow you to spend more time with your patient without jeopardizing your job. This law permits certain employees to take leaves of absence to care for a critically ill, immediate family member.You may use this leave time to:

• help your loved one with basic medical, hygienic, safety, and nutritional needs;
• accompany her to appointments with physicians and other healthcare professionals;
• support her in physical, occupational, and speech therapy sessions; and
• arrange for changes in care, such as transferring her from the acute care hospital to a rehab facility.

The law authorizes you to use twelve weeks of family and medical leave each year, either all at once or at intervals throughout the year.

A 2008 extension to this Act permits a spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin to take up to twenty-six weeks of leave to care for a member of the Armed Forces, including a member of the National Guard or Reserves, who is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy; is otherwise in outpatient status; or is on the temporary disability retired list, for a serious injury or illness.

Unfortunately, employers are not obligated to pay your wages when you are caring for your loved one. This prevents many caregivers from benefiting from this legislation.

Your employer must continue to provide the same benefits—including your health insurance—when you miss work to care for an ailing family member.

You are covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act if:

• your employer has fifty or more employees working within seventy-five miles of your job site,
• you have at least one year's job tenure,
• you have exhausted your sick and vacation leave,
• you have worked for your employer for at least 1,250 hours in the preceding year, and
• you intend to return to work at the end of your leave.
• The law stipulates that you request leave at least thirty days in advance, though it allows notice to be given as soon as practicable when unforeseen events, such as a brain injury, arise. Some states have laws that provide rights in addition to those authorized by the federal law.

Employers may try to ignore the Family and Medical Leave Act. If this happens to you, you have the right to enact legal proceedings.

Finally, employers have been known to retaliate against workers who use this leave. Be prepared if this sounds like your boss.

The U.S. Department of Labor will answer your questions about the Family and Medical Leave Act at 866-487-9243.