The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was established in 1994 so there are many case studies out there that help us define the various aspects of the law.
FMLA was designed to help individuals who have a serious medical condition, birth of a child, adoption and placement needs, caring for family members who have serious medical conditions.

Here are the basics:
An eligible employee can use up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave.
Benefits are required to be maintained while on leave, though the employee may still be responsible to pay their portion of premiums.
Once the medical condition is cleared up the employee should be able to return to the job you were doing before you left or to a job with similar responsibilities and pay.

In 2009 the act was amended to include military personnel:
An eligible employee who is a spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness can take up to a total of 26 workweeks of unpaid leave during a “single 12-month period” to care for the service member.
A covered employer must grant an eligible employee up to a total of 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during the normal 12-month period established by the employer for FMLA leave for qualifying exigencies arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is on active duty, or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty, in support of a contingency operation.

Am I a “qualified employee”?

To be considered a qualified employee you must have worked for the employee for 12 months and have worked a minimum of 1250 hours over the last 12 months.

Is my employer covered?

For your employer to be required to offer FMLA they will have to have at least 50 employees working within a 75 mile radius of each other. If your employer has less than 50 employees they may still offer FMLA, if they do they become bound by the same rules and expectations of the law even though they weren’t originally required to.

As an employee you are also protected for taking FMLA, if your employer takes action against you and the primary reason for doing so is because you took leave you may have a claim against the employer and should consult with an attorney to ensure you rights haven’t been violated.