The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a labor law directed not at discrimination or harassment, but at making sure that employees do not lose their jobs just because they take medical leave for themselves or medical leave to care for a family member, also known as family leave. In short, the FMLA allows qualified employees of qualified employers to take up to 12 weeks of time off from work during a specified 12 month period. This time may be taken all at once, or taken as intermittent leave. Unlike discrimination and sexual harassment laws, the FMLA depends more on whether the employer follows specific written guidelines than on what the employer was thinking when it took an act.