Protecting your rights: do you know what you don’t know?

If we step back and look at employer-employee relationships in Wisconsin for the past century, the obvious good news is that through a combination of federal and state legislation passed over the years, as an employee you have more rights and more protections today than ever before. But sometimes this progress can be more than a little confusing. You now have a plethora of statutory and regulatory protections that range from protecting you against discrimination in hiring, to ensuring that you have a safe place to work and are not subject to discrimination on the job, to rights that are available when you have changed family circumstances, and rights against being terminated unfairly.

How do you keep track of them all?

For example, when someone refers to the Family Medical Leave Act, should it occur to you to ask, “Which one?” There is a federal law, and a Wisconsin state law that both go by the same name. Which applies to you in any given situation? What are the requirements to qualify for their benefits and protections? Are these laws exclusive of one another, or complimentary? How can you tell? You could try reading the laws themselves and court opinions interpreting them, but unless you are an attorney experienced with Wisconsin labor law that could prove to be a daunting and ultimately frustrating task.

Or you can contact us. At Alan C. Olson & Associates, our attorneys are already deeply familiar with both the federal and state FMLA laws, and how they apply to you when you have a baby, or adopt a child, or need to take care of a parent who needs special assistance, or even if you are encountering medical problems of your own. Your family is what is most important to you. Chances are, when you need to take advantage of FMLA provisions, your focus will be on what is best for your family, and not on the mechanics of how the law works. That is what we are for. Dealing with the legal complexities is what we do, so you don’t have to.

If changes to your family situation lead you to want to know how either Wisconsin’s or the federal FMLA will work for you, contact us by telephone at 262-785-9606 or 888-742-9520, or use our online contact resource to learn more and to schedule a no-cost initial consultation.

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