When the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was signed into law in 1993, eligible employees of FMLA-covered employers gained the legal right to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a designated 12-month leave period for approved personal or family medical conditions. An employer is covered under the provisions of the FMLA if it employs 50 or more people in a 75-mile radius (measured in terms of driving miles on highways and roads, and not in miles through the air.) In order for an employee to qualify for FMLA-protected leave, he or she must have been ...