Legal advice to Bruce on his emergency leaves Essay

Legal advice to Bruce on his emergency leaves - Essay Example Legal Position Every employee has a right to emergency leave to take care of dependants across many labor law jurisdictions. Public and private employees have equal access to time allowance in order to take care of their dependants, usually in form of unpaid emergency leaves. According to Miller (2012, p. 419), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 was enacted to provide protection to employees who require emergency leaves to take care of family or medical needs. The Act provides for emergency leave allowances of up to 12 weeks per year for general employment environment, which is accordingly extended in certain types of reasons for the dependant’s emergency need. For instance, if the dependant needs care following an injury while on a military duty, the Act provides for emergency leave of up to twenty six weeks a year. Under the details provided in the case facts, it is not clear what the cause is for the illness that Mary suffers from. The bottom line, however, is that Bruce as an employee is entitled to a certain amount of time for emergency medical attention for his wife. Within the restrictions under the Act for the number of weeks allowed within a twelve months working period, the question of how procedural Bruce was in taking leave may be the cause of the stand-off as opposed to whether he had a claim (McFarlane 2012, para4). It is not clear how many days Bruce took the emergency leaves as well as the reason for the illness that his wife suffered from. As explained above, there are certain causes of Mary’s sickness that could extend the days allowance. The size of the organization in which Bruce works may also bring the consideration of the length of time that he has claimed for emergency leaves into perspective. Ordinarily, the duration of the leave within the twelve month period is dictated by the size of the employee base, which is assumed to be 50 employees (Hunter 2009, p183). However, certain states do not have reservations in the limit of number of employees in the organization in order for the emergency leave to be allowed. It is only logical for the employees to be allowed to take an emergency leave if there is enough cover during the absence, presumably from the pool of colleagues. The danger to life of the dependant may, however, compel the situation to be stretched to accommodate emergency leaves. In order to qualify for an emergency leave, the employee must satisfy the basic requirements of an emergency under the Act. According to the case facts, Bruce’s relationship with Mary qualifies to access an emergency leave on family grounds. Perhaps more definitions of marital status and relationship would require visitation, but the low threshold on cohabitation may dispel such doubts. In case the employer requires proof of entitlement, Bruce will have to provide some form of evidence to support the argument that Mary is his wife (Hunter 2009, p24). Although certain circumstances may make it imp ossible to prove such a relationship immediately, the requirement of evidence reasonable under the circumstances is a sufficient proof. Legal Advice Bruce’s position in this case is that though he is entitled to a medical emergency leave for his spouse’s care, there are limitations in the allowable number of days. The sickness of Bruce’s wife is reportedly a lengthy one, stretching to over 15 years. However, it is not verifiable how many days