BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- The U.S. Labor Department says Louisiana will reinstate and pay about $36,600 in back wages to a woman fired after missing work because of a serious health problem.

It says the Department of Children and Family Services had illegally kept the woman from returning to work after an earlier medical absence.

A news release says that left her below the number of hours required to get up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

The law entitles workers to take unpaid leave for specified reasons -- and to keep their group health insurance coverage during that leave.

The Labor Department says Children and Family Services also agreed to ensure that managers are trained about the law.