Minnesota Employment Lawyers

Medical And Parental Leave

As an employee, you may have the right to take legally protected medical or parental leave from your job. When your employer has denied your leave request or retaliated against you for taking medical or parental leave, contact Fabian May & Anderson, PLLP, for an initial case review with a medical and parental leave attorney to discuss your rights to take leave from work to seek medical care, care for a family member with a severe health condition, or welcome a new child.

Why Turn to an Employment Law Attorney with Fabian May & Anderson, PLLP?

After your employer has denied you medical or parental leave or retaliated against you for taking leave, choose an employment law attorney from Fabian May & Anderson, PLLP, to advocate for your interests when seeking medical and parental leave because:

Our attorneys have dedicated their careers to helping employees understand their workplace rights and the legal process to guide them through disputes with employers.
We have decades of experience pursuing claims against employers who violate worker rights.
Our firm will provide you with the kind of support and service you need, offering you consolation while taking an aggressive approach to advocating on your behalf.

Understanding Medical and Parental Leave

Under state and federal employment laws, medical leave refers to the time an employee takes off work to address a serious health condition they or an immediate family member are experiencing. Common reasons for taking medical leave include:

Undergoing surgery or other medical treatments.
Recovering from surgery/medical treatment.
Inability to work due to symptoms caused by a chronic illness.
Receiving inpatient mental health or substance abuse treatment.
Providing home care to an immediate family member with a serious illness.

Parental leave refers to the time a worker takes off from their job to prepare for the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child and to bond with a new biological, adopted, or foster child. Both women and men can take parental leave as the law recognizes the right of both mothers and fathers to bond with new children.

Federal Protections Under the FMLA

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act guarantees eligible workers job-protected medical and parental leave. The FMLA provides qualifying employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave.

Employees may take continuous or intermittent leave. Employees usually must take parental leave as continuous leave. However, employees can request intermittent leave for medical leave, such as to attend regular medical treatments.

The FMLA prohibits employers from interfering with an eligible employee’s efforts to take qualifying leave or retaliating against an employee who requests or takes FMLA leave.

Minnesota Medical and Parental Leave Laws

Beginning in 2026, Minnesota state law will provide paid medical and parental leave to eligible workers. Minnesota’s paid leave program allows eligible workers to take up to 12 weeks of family leave and 12 weeks of medical leave in a year. Workers who take both family and medical leave in a single year may not take more than 20 weeks of total leave. Workers who take paid leave will receive state payments based on their working wages. Funding for paid leave comes from payroll taxes assessed on employers and employees.

In 2024, Minnesota also adopted an earned sick and safe time law, which allows eligible employees to accrue at least one hour of paid sick and safe time for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 48 hours a year. Employees can use sick and safe time to recover from or treat physical or mental illness, treat a family member’s physical or mental illness, recover from domestic abuse, assault, or talking, make arrangements for or attend a family member’s funeral, or quarantine if one poses a risk of infecting others with a communicable disease.

Common Employer Violations and Legal Issues

Some of the most frequent ways that employers might violate workers’ medical and parental leave rights include:

Interfering with an eligible employee’s right to take protected leave.
Denying requested leave despite the worker’s eligibility.
Not reinstating a worker to their old job or a substantially similar position.
Halting benefits, such as health insurance, during a worker’s leave.
Retaliating against a worker for requesting or taking leave.
Violating an employee’s health privacy by publicizing the reasons for their leave.

Remedies for Medical and Parental Leave Violations

A worker who has a medical and parental leave interference or retaliation claim may pursue various remedies from government agencies or the courts, including:

Reinstatement to one’s old job or a substantially similar position.
Injunctive relief requiring an employer to grant requested leave.
Compensation for lost pay and benefits following an illegal termination, demotion, or pay cut.
Medical expenses incurred due to an employer’s discontinuation of benefits during a worker’s leave.
Compensation for emotional trauma or distress.

How Our Law Firm Can Help

The legal team at Fabian May & Anderson, PLLP, can help you pursue legal claims after your employer has wrongfully denied your medical or parental leave or retaliated against you for requesting or taking leave. Our firm will fight for your rights and interests by:

Thoroughly investigating your case to recover evidence.
Documenting your losses, such as lost pay or additional expenses incurred due to lost employment benefits.
Evaluating your legal options for pursuing accountability and relief.
Filing a complaint or charge with the appropriate court or agency on your behalf with state and federal agencies.
Filing a legal claim against your employer to secure leave or compensation for your losses.
Vigorously pursuing a favorable outcome for you, whether through a negotiated settlement of your claim or by taking your case to court and trial, if necessary.

Contact Us Today to Discuss Your Legal Rights

When your employer has violated your rights related to protected medical or parental leave, you need experienced legal advocacy to protect your rights. Contact Fabian May & Anderson, PLLP, today for a confidential consultation with our legal team to learn how we will fight to demand accountability when your employer wrongfully denies you protected leave or retaliates against you for taking medical or parental leave.

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