FMLA & Leave Attorneys in Northern Virginia
Protected Leave Is a Right, Not a Favor
If your job was hurt after taking leave, or you are an employer managing complex leave policies, we make the law work in your favor across Northern Virginia.
Leave Is Protected by Law
The FMLA Guarantees Your Job While You Take Needed Leave
12 Weeks
Job-protected unpaid leave the FMLA guarantees
1,250 Hours
You must have worked in the year to qualify
50 Employees
Employer-size threshold, within 75 miles
Source: federal Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq.
The FMLA gives eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for serious health and family needs. The key words are job-protected: your employer must give you your job, or an equivalent one, back. Punishing you for taking it is against the law.
Took Protected Leave and Lost Ground? We Make It Right.
The Family and Medical Leave Act exists for life’s hardest moments: a serious illness, a new child, a family member who needs care. For eligible employees, it provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, with your job waiting when you return.
To qualify, you generally must have worked for the employer at least a year, logged at least 1,250 hours, and work at a location with 50 or more employees within 75 miles. When those boxes are checked, your employer cannot interfere with the leave or punish you for taking it.
We represent employees whose jobs were cut, demoted, or undermined regarding protected leave, and we counsel employers trying to manage overlapping FMLA, ADA, and pregnancy obligations without triggering a claim.
Schedule a ConsultationWhere We Come In
- ✓ You were fired or demoted after taking medical leave
- ✓ Your employer denied or discouraged leave you were entitled to
- ✓ You came back to a worse job than the one you left
- ✓ Leave for a new child or a sick family member was refused
- ✓ You are an employer juggling FMLA, ADA, and pregnancy rules
- ✓ You need to know whether you qualified for protected leave
What We Handle
FMLA & Leave Matters We Handle
From a denied request to a demotion on return, we hold employers to the law’s job-protection promise.
Interference Claims
An employer that denied, delayed, or discouraged leave you were entitled to.
Retaliation for Leave
Firing, demotion, or discipline tied to taking protected leave.
Failure to Reinstate
Returning to a worse job instead of the one you left, or its equivalent.
Eligibility Disputes
Disagreements over hours, tenure, or employer size that affect coverage.
Overlapping Leave Law
Where FMLA, the ADA, and pregnancy protections intersect and conflict.
Employer Compliance
Policies and processes that administer leave without creating a claim.
Why Employees and Employers Trust Us
We Check Eligibility First
Hours, tenure, and employer size decide coverage. We confirm where you stand before anything else.
We Watch the Return
The job-protection promise is broken most often at reinstatement. We hold employers to it.
We Untangle Overlap
FMLA, ADA, and pregnancy rules collide. We sort the obligations so nothing gets missed.
Employees and Employers
We pursue interference and retaliation for workers and build compliant leave practices for businesses.
What to Expect
How Working With Us Begins
1
Consultation
Tell us what happened. We listen, ask the right questions, and find the claims or the exposure in your situation.
2
Review the Record
We read the contract, the emails, the pay records, and the policies, then tell you plainly where you stand and what your deadlines are.
3
Assert or Protect
We file the charge, send the demand, negotiate the severance, or build the compliant policy, with a clear plan and your goals at the center.
4
Resolve or Try It
We push for the strongest resolution available and are fully prepared to take it to the EEOC, to court, or to trial.
Attorney Insight
“The FMLA promise is simple: take your protected leave, and your job is there when you get back. Where it breaks down is the return. Someone takes twelve weeks for surgery or a new baby and comes back to a lesser role, a worse schedule, or a layoff that conveniently targets only them. That can be interference or retaliation, even if no one ever said the word leave. For employers, the danger zone is the same moment, plus the overlap with the ADA and pregnancy rules. Either way, the record around the leave and the return is what I look at first.”
Anthony I. Shin, Esq.
Founder, Shin Law Office
Common Questions
Answers Before You Call
Am I eligible for FMLA leave?
Generally if you have worked for the employer at least 12 months, logged at least 1,250 hours in the past year, and work where the employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles. We confirm your eligibility quickly.
I was fired after taking medical leave. Is that legal?
If you were eligible and the firing was connected to your protected leave, it may be unlawful interference or retaliation. The timing and the employer’s stated reason matter a great deal, and we examine both.
Does my job have to be held for me?
Yes. On return from FMLA leave you are generally entitled to your same job or an equivalent one, with the same pay, benefits, and conditions. Coming back to less can be a violation.
Is FMLA leave paid?
The FMLA itself provides unpaid, job-protected leave, though you may use accrued paid time and other benefits may apply. The core protection is keeping your job, not your paycheck.
What if FMLA, the ADA, and pregnancy rules all apply?
They often overlap, and the obligations can differ. We sort out which protections apply and how they interact so an employee is fully covered and an employer does not misstep.
I am an employer. How do I administer leave safely?
With clear policies, careful eligibility tracking, and consistent documentation, especially at reinstatement. We build leave practices that meet the law and reduce the risk of a claim.
Protect the Job You Came Back To
If your job suffered because you took protected leave, the law may already be on your side. Let us look at the timing. Serving employees and employers across Northern Virginia.
Prefer to talk now? Reach Anthony I. Shin, Esq. at 571-445-6565.
Based in Loudoun County and serving clients across Virginia, Washington DC, and Maryland, we know that when everything’s on the line, the right attorney doesn’t just make a difference, they determine the outcome.
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Copyright © 2025 Shin Law Office, PLC. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2025 Shin Law Office, PLC. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of any content on this site is prohibited except for individual, non-commercial, informational use. This limited permission does not allow modification, distribution, or incorporation of any content into other works or publications in any medium. You may not reproduce or distribute content from this site to any third party.