John Jay recently took the trip of a lifetime, using every minute of his accrued vacation time. Back only three weeks, he just heard that his father is in the hospital and he must make emergency arrangements for the care of his disabled mother. His co-worker, Jenna Roberts, is taking several hours every week to drive her mother to chemo treatments. She also needs more time off that she can't pre-schedule when her mother needs care for chemotherapy side effects. Both John and Jenna were extremely worried about losing their jobs.

Until they were reminded, both had forgotten that under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) they could be eligible for job protection if they need time off to care for a parent.

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 entitles eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for narrowly defined family and medical reasons. Care for a parent qualifies.

FMLA applies to employees of all public agencies, including state, local and federal employers, schools, and those who work at a location with more than 50 employees within a 75 mile radius.

To be eligible for FMLA benefits, an employee must have worked for the employer for a total of 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months. The employer covered by this law must must grant an eligible employee up to a total of 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period to, among other things, care for a parent with a serious health condition.

While leave under the FMLA is unpaid, if the employee was covered by group health insurance the employer must continue health benefits while the employee is on Family Leave. When he or she returns from Family Medical Leave, the employee must be either returned to the original job or must be given an equivalent job with equivalent pay and benefits, so employment is protected.

For John, having Family Leave available means that he can take the time he needs to travel to his parents', arrange for immediate care for his mother, and be there for his father in the hospital. When his father is well enough to leave the hospital, he can be available to help with setting up after care. His job will be waiting for him when he returns. In the meantime, while he won't be paid, John won't have to worry about losing his own medical coverage. This is a significant benefit of FMLA.

Family Medical Leave can be taken in hourly increments, so Jenna will not have to take an entire unpaid day if she can do what needs to be done for her mother in a few hours. This will be helpful to Jenna because she will lose less income. She should also be able to stretch her 12 weeks of available leave for much longer than three months if her mother does not become more ill and needy.

Because it's a federal law, there are lots of ifs, ands, and wherefores in the Family Medical Leave Act. If you work for a covered employer, there should be a summary of the law posted prominently somewhere in your building. If you work from home or from a small satellite office you may not have this available. Your human resources department should have at least one person who is well-informed about the ins and outs of the law and how you can qualify for covered leave if you need it. You can also find a good summary fact sheet about FMLA from the Department of Labor here. Print it out and put it with your other caregiving papers in case you need to refer to it later.

While FMLA doesn't apply to employees in businesses with fewer than 50 workers, many caregivers do work for businesses where it applies. When it's available, using FMLA time for parent caregiving can protect your job and your benefits, so it is something to remember if you begin to have concerns about caregiving and your job. Take a few minutes now to familiarize yourself with how it works. You must talk to your employer and make specific arrangements to take Family Medical Leave. If you find yourself in a stressful emergency situation, without a reminder you might not think about talking to HR, either before you leave for a scheduled event or as soon thereafter as you can for an emergency.