WorkFMLA and medical leave
FMLA and medical leave in Arizona
The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq.) gives eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for a serious health condition, a new child, or care of a close family member. You are eligible if your employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles of your worksite and you have worked there at least 12 months and 1,250 hours in the past year. The employer must keep your health coverage and return you to the same or an equivalent job. Denying leave that qualifies, counting it against you, or firing you for taking it may each support a claim. Arizona has no state equivalent, so the federal act usually controls.
What Blueshoe does
The groundwork, in order, before you decide anything.
- 01
Check eligibility and coverage
Employer size within 75 miles, your 12 months and 1,250 hours, and whether the condition or the family relationship qualifies. Blueshoe answers the threshold questions from your facts first.
- 02
Map what the employer did
A denial, a demand for more paperwork than the rules allow, absences counted against you, a changed job on return, or a firing. Each is matched to interference or retaliation under the act.
- 03
Line up the other claims
The same facts often raise disability or pregnancy accommodation claims under Arizona and federal law, with shorter deadlines. You get them sorted and calendared together.
- 04
An attorney can take it forward
A licensed Arizona attorney can review the assessment, send a demand, file the charge where one is required, or bring the FMLA claim in court, on terms stated in writing first.
What the law says
What the law says about medical leave in Arizona
Who is covered by the FMLA?
Employees of a private employer with 50 or more employees within 75 miles of the worksite, who have worked for that employer at least 12 months and at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before the leave. If the employer is smaller or you are newer, the FMLA generally does not apply, though disability or pregnancy accommodation law may.
What does the leave cover?
Up to 12 weeks in a 12-month period for your own serious health condition, the birth or placement of a child, or care of a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition. Leave can be taken all at once or intermittently when medically necessary. It is unpaid, but your group health coverage continues on the same terms.
What counts as a violation?
Two kinds. Interference: denying leave that qualifies, discouraging you from taking it, demanding more certification than the rules allow, or not restoring you to the same or an equivalent job afterward. Retaliation: firing, demoting, or disciplining you because you requested or took leave, including counting FMLA absences under a no-fault attendance policy. Either may support a claim.
How long do I have to bring an FMLA claim?
Generally two years from the violation, or three years if the violation was willful, and FMLA claims go directly to court with no agency charge required. The same facts often raise disability or pregnancy discrimination claims, and those carry the shorter administrative deadlines of 180 days with the ACRD and 300 days with the EEOC, so the shorter clock governs.
What does Arizona law add?
Arizona has no state family leave act. It does require earned paid sick time under A.R.S. § 23-371 and following: one hour accrued for every 30 hours worked, usable for your own or a family member's illness, with retaliation for using it prohibited. Disability and pregnancy accommodation law can also require leave the FMLA does not.
What it costs
Free to ask. A flat fee, quoted before any work.
Asking costs nothing, and a licensed Arizona attorney can review your situation before you decide anything. If you engage Blueshoe, the fee is a flat amount set out in a written engagement agreement before any work is billed. Some matters resolve with one letter; others need a filed claim; you know the price for each before you commit.
- Free to ask
- Written assessment before any fee
- Engagement terms in writing
- No billable hours
Questions people ask
Possibly. The FMLA will not apply, but Arizona's earned paid sick time law covers nearly all employers, and disability or pregnancy accommodation rules can require leave as an accommodation regardless of FMLA eligibility. The assessment checks each.
More under Employment
- DiscriminationRace, sex, pregnancy, age, disability, religion, national origin, and the retaliation that follows a complaint.Read more
- Wrongful terminationArizona is at-will, but the Arizona Employment Protection Act makes some firings unlawful: retaliation, refusing to break the law, breach of contract.Read more
- Workers' comp deniedA denial from the carrier is an argument, not a verdict.Read more
Related
Where else to read
Legally reviewed by Catherine O’Grady, State Bar of Arizona No. 011647
Managing partner & chief compliance officer · 30+ years in practice · Reviewed 2026-10-08 · Full bio →