Job Protection - FMLA vs. StateFLA (AFLA)

First things first, cancer and job protection. 

In the United States, there are 2 laws that can help protect you:

• The Family and Medical Leave Act can help if you need to take time off work.
• Federal - the one we hear about most, known most commonly as FMLA (or fimlaa)
• State - we'll review Alaska which is known as AFLA, not to be confused with AFLAC
• The Americans with Disabilities Act protects against discrimination for certain health conditions.

 Cancer is considered a serious health condition. Having a diagnosis of cancer with a qualifying Medical Certification, which is called a Certification of Health Care Provider (CHCP) and filled out by your oncologist, protects your job by the Federal FMLA and State Federal Leave Act, if your state has one. Here is a link to an opinion letter from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) outlining your same protection while undergoing a clinical trial: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/2024_11_08_01_A.pdf

Thanks in advance to Google AI:

"These two laws protect an individual undergoing cancer treatment through three core pillars: job security, benefits preservation, and scheduling flexibility.

1. Job Protection and Restoration

While you are out of work for treatments or recovery, your employer cannot terminate, demote, or penalize you for your absence.

• Equivalent Position
• When your leave concludes, you have a legal right to be restored to your original job or an equivalent position with the exact same pay, benefits, and structural terms of employment.
• Protection from Retaliation
• Employers are legally prohibited from tracking family medical leave absences against you for negative performance reviews or disciplinary actions.

2. Mandatory Health Insurance Continuity

If you receive group health insurance coverage through your workplace, your employer must maintain your healthcare coverage at the exact same level and under the same conditions as if you were actively working.

• You will still be responsible for paying your normal employee share of the insurance premium, but the company must continue paying its portion.

3. Flexible Leave Layouts (Continuous vs. Intermittent)

Cancer treatment rarely follows a straight line, so the laws allow you to structure your time off in the way that matches your medical needs:

• Continuous Leave: Used for a single, long block of uninterrupted time off, such as taking 4 weeks off to recover from an extensive oncology surgery.
• Intermittent Leave: Used in small, non-consecutive increments. You can take a few hours off for weekly chemotherapy, or sudden single days off when facing severe side effects like exhaustion or nausea.
• Reduced Schedule: Allows you to permanently scale back your regular workweek hours for a set duration (e.g., changing from a 40-hour workweek to a 20-hour workweek during a multi-month radiation cycle)."

One myth is that FMLA pays you for time off. It does not. PTO pays you. Sick leave (if your state requires this), pays you. But FMLA is the above: job security, benefits preservation, and scheduling flexibility, but not a way to get paid.

Now, let's pretend that FMLA is Batman and AFLA is Robin. This will make sense in a minute.

Federal FMLA (aka Batman)

• Coverage
• Applies to all public agencies (local, state, and federal employers), public and private elementary and secondary schools, and private-sector employers with 50 or more employees.
• Entitlement
• Eligible public employees receive up to 12 work weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for qualifying family, medical, or military reasons, or up to 26 workweeks for military caregiver leave.
• Guaranteed restoration to the same or an equivalent position
• Eligibility
• Employees must work for the public agency for at least 12 months
• Have worked 1,250 hours during the previous 12-month period (excludes PTO hours), and
• Be employed at a worksite with 50 or more employees within 75 miles.

FMLA is what I used in 2024 as I had been a full time employee prior to my cancer diagnosis and treatment banking more than 1,250 hours in that 12 hour period. Fast forward to now, I greatly reduced my hours to 20 and then 24 hours per week and am sitting at only 1001.5 hours within the past 12 months. Therefore, I do not qualify for FMLA. Initial panic set in.

Enter the sidekick - Robin

AFLA (aka Robin) - varies by state

• Coverage
•  Applies to state agencies, political subdivisions, and public authorities that employ 21 or more employees within a 50-mile radius for at least 20 consecutive workweeks.
• Entitlement
• Up to 18 weeks in a 24-month period (serious medical conditions)
• Up to 18 weeks in a 12-month period (pregnancy, childbirth, adoption)
• Eligibility
• Worked at least 35 hours/week for 6 consecutive months OR 17.5 hours/week for 12 consecutive months 🥳🎉

Now this I qualify for. And it can be taken intermittently rather than all in one chunk, just like FMLA.

Enter the 1-2 punch. If you do qualify for FMLA and your state has a family leave act, they are to run concurrently. This means, in 2024, I qualified for 12 weeks of FMLA and 18 weeks of AFLA but the first 12 weeks of AFLA ran at the same time as FMLA. AFLA did give me an extra 6 weeks past the concurrent 12 weeks.

***Here is a link to find out if your state has a family leave act: 

    Just kidding. There is no easy link. This is why I'm doing this post. AI can be a great way to search for your state's act. The "prompt" or "search" I put into google.com is "state family medical leave unpaid table" and it asked "If you want information for a specific state, please let me know which one so I can give you the exact local duration and rules." to which I was able to put in another state and it summarized the benefits. Your HR should be a resource as well.

From what I can gather, your HR process for applying for FMLA should automatically apply you for your state family leave act to see if you qualify for one or both. Hopefully this is a smooth process should you need it.

***I will clearly state that state family leave act information is not easy to obtain. It also isn't talked about often. You hear about FMLA and that is it. Don't forget to check if you have additional protection for your job via your state laws.

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