Does my job have the legal right to terminate me?
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Does my job have the legal right to terminate me?
I recently been diagnosed with Narcolepsy/Cataplexy. I have been on medical leave for almost 5 months now and have used up my 12 week FMLA, plus a 30 day extension that my employer gave me. However, I’m still under a doctor’s care and haven’t been released to go back yet.
Asked on April 30, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, Louisiana
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Yes, you can be terminated. An employer does not need to retain an employee indefinitely who cannot or does not come to work, even due to a medical condition. That fact that you are under a doctor's care is irrelevant. U.S. law gives you up to 12 weeks unpaid medical leave under the FMLA (assuming your company is large enough to be covered, which yours apparently was); after or in addition to that, you only get any additional time your company freely and voluntarily chooses to give you, or any time you get by using paid time off (e.g. vacation or sick days) you earned. You have already received a 30 day extension: your employer has already been more generous to you than the law requires them to be. Remember: there is no right to a job in the U.S., and employers hire you for their benefit, to work, not for your benefit. If you cannot or do not work, they do not need to employ you once you have used up FMLA leave and any PTO.
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