I was in a car accident last year and have been out on leave for the past 15 months. My employer just sent me a letter stating that I am being terminated. Isn’t that illegal? I thought that they can’t fire you when you are on a leave.
There is nothing that prevents a company from firing a person while they are on leave. However, they can’t decide to fire the person just because they are on leave, so long as the leave is a qualified leave under the law. A person qualifies for 12 weeks of leave each year if they have worked at least 12 months for the employer, if they have worked at least 1250 hours in the last 12 months, and if there are at least 50 employees within a 75 mile radius of where the employee works. If they need to go over the 12 weeks, and have a specific date to return to work, they may also qualify for some additional time if it is reasonable based on all the circumstances including the size of the employer, the type of job, how the extra time will affect the employer’s business and the length of time needed. I cannot tell from your question if you qualified for a leave, but even if you did it is very unlikely that an employer will be required to hold a position open for 15 months under the law.