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you are a working parent who has to miss some number

of days each year to take your child to routine medical

appointments. Prior to this law, you could be fired for

missing too many days of work- being a parent is not a

protected class under the anti-discrimination laws, and

routine medical appointments do not qualify as a “serious

health condition” under the Family and Medical Leave

Act (“FMLA”). Now, so long as you are using the time

you have accrued under this law, you may be protected

from being fired, demoted, or disciplined because you

used that time. Or imagine you have a seriously ill child

or spouse and need time to take care of them and help get

them the care they need, but you work for a company

with fewer than 50 employees, or you have worked for

your employer for less than a year, meaning the FMLA

does not apply to you, even for unpaid, job-protected

32| Rules of the Road