Time Off From Work

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) can be of assistance if you need to take time off from work because of family responsibilities. The first step is to ask your employer what Family and Medical Leave Act benefits are provided to employees.

Employers are not required by law to offer time off from work or paid leave to an employee who has a death in their family or who is attending a funeral.

Holiday pay is pay for holidays, like Christmas Day, or other time not worked (like vacation) when a business may be closed or the employee is permitted to take time off from work.

The Federal Government provides employees with nine paid holidays each year. Private sector employees may provide holiday days off or holiday pay for working on a holiday, but the are not required to pay you extra for time worked on a holiday or give you a holiday off from work.

Federal Law requires employers to allow employees to serve jury duty with no repercussions in the work place. Employers, however, are not required to pay employees for time not worked.

Some employers provide long term disability coverage to employees. Individuals can also purchase their own long term disability policy.

Federal law does not require lunch or coffee breaks for employees. Lunch, dinner, or other meal periods (typically lasting at least 30 minutes) are not work time and employees are not paid for their meal break. However, when employers offer short breaks (usually lasting about 5 - 20 minutes), federal law considers the breaks as compensable work hours that you would be paid for.

Family leave, which includes maternity leave or paternity leave and adoption leave, provides for paid or unpaid time off from work after the birth or adoption of a child.

Federal law does not provide for vacation pay. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations, sick time, or holidays. Vacation pay is based upon an agreement between an employer and an employee, either a collective bargaining agreement or company policy.

Federal Law requires employers to allow employees to serve jury duty with no repercussions in the work place. Employers, however, are not required to pay employees for time not worked.

Short term disability insurance coverage is provided by some states and/or by some employers.

Federal law does not provide for paid sick leave, other than the FLMA. State law may vary and companies may have a company policy providing paid time off when you are sick.

Social Security Disability Insurance enables workers who are employed in covered employment and who have a medical condition that meets Social Security's definition of disability to collect benefits while they are unable to work.

Suggestions and excuses for taking time off from work for a job interview.

Employers are required to reasonably accommodate workers religious beliefs if it doesn't cause an undue hardship for the company. Here's information on job applicant and employee rights as related to religion.

Answers to questions about working on a holiday, getting paid for working on a holiday, and holiday time off from work.

When you are considering a job offer or about to start a new job, one of the questions you will have will be about vacation time. Here's information on how much vacation employees get.

Do you need to skip work, but don't have a good excuse? If you are concerned about using the "I need a sick day" excuse too many times and want to be creative here are some work excuses shared by About.com readers that might work when you need a reason to take time off from your job.

Companies may require that employees provide a written excuse letter or send an email message when they miss time from work to interview or for other reasons. These sample letters and email message with excuses for missing work can be edited to fit your own personal circumstances.