Sometimes workers misunderstand what protects them from being dismissed from a job. While there are laws that ensure one's employment, there are usually stipulations that go along with them.

That's what one worker who was fired while on approved sick leave, is learning:

I have a valid doctor's excuse to be out of the office on sick leave. My employer approved it. However, I was fired two weeks ago. Since my medical leave doesn't qualify as short-term disability, they said it couldn't stop them. I have a workmen's compensation insurance claim pending. What recourse do I have?

You cannot be fired for filing a workmen's compensation claim, says Diane A. Seltzer, a Washington lawyer who handles employer and worker disputes. If that's what the employer did, she says, the worker should take legal action.

But if that's not the case, says Seltzer, many other variables come into play — such as the size of the employer, the length of the worker's employment and the nature of her illness.

The worker may be covered by provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), says Seltzer, which would allow for 12 weeks of paid or unpaid leave (at the employer's discretion) and the ability for the worker to return to the same job — or equivalent — once the leave expires.

But this would only apply, Seltzer says, if the employer has 50 or more workers employed within a 75-mile radius and if the worker has been employed for at least one year — and has worked 1,250 hours during that time.

This worker might still be able to dispute the dismissal using state or local laws that cover employee disabilities, Seltzer says, even if she doesn't qualify for FMLA. Under such laws, workers must be given reasonable accommodations in performance of the essential functions of the job, she says, including time off to recuperate from illness or attend doctor's appointments.

But if there were other factors — such as repeated absences without good reason or poor on-the-job performance — that contributed to the firing, says Seltzer, the dismissal might be justified, medical issues notwithstanding."

Copyright The Washington Post Company, April 23, 2007