When you’re seriously hurt at work and facing a long recovery where the doctor keeps you out off work, you might benefit from the Family and Medical Leave Act, also called “FAMLA.” In this brief video, South Carolina workers’ compensation attorney Rob Usry gives the basics on who’s eligible, how to use it, and how it’s no substitute for workers’ comp rights- even if your human resources officer tells you otherwise. Here’s a question we get sometimes, how can the Family and Medical Leave Act affect my workers comp case? The Family and Medical Leave Act​ FMLA is a federal law giving eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job protected leave. You don’t have to take all 12 leaves at once. You can take FMLA leave while you are out on workers comp, whether you should do that depends on your unique circumstances. An experienced worker’s comp lawyer can give you guidance that. And some employers declare workers’ comp leave to be FMLA leave. They can do that, its the law. One thing an employer can’t do is force you to take FMLA leave instead of getting workers’ comp benefits. So if you’re hurt bad enough to get FMLA you need to protect your workers’ comp rights because nobody else will, certainly not the workers’ compensation insurance company. To get your questions answered and for a free strategy session to discuss your case, you can either call my office, (864) 582-0416 to schedule it or fill out a get help now form right on my website. You’ll get answers from an experienced workers’ comp attorney. I thank for thinking about this with me, and I hope I see you soon.