*As published in BusinessWoman Magazine August 2016 edition
Your employee heads for a routine mammogram and gets a call a few days later that something was detected. Following a biopsy and other tests, the employee’s worst fears are confirmed. The employee will need to take time off for treatment and recovery for her serious health condition and may need other accommodations when she returns to work. As an employer, what are your responsibilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA)?
The starting point depends on the size of your company. If an employer has 50 or more employees, it is subject to the FMLA and must provide up to 12 weeks of leave (in a single block of time or on an intermittent basis), without pay but with continued health coverage, to qualifying employees with a “serious medical condition” who have worked for at least one year and for at least 1,250 hours.