Know Your Rights: 
Family & Medical Leave Act, Part I 

Part 1 of 2


The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment Standards Administra­tion, Wage and Hour Division, administers and enforces the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for all private, state and local gov­ernment employees, and some federal employees. The FMLA entitles eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for speci.ed family and medical reasons. The employer may elect to use the calendar year, a fixed 12-month leave or fiscal year, or a 12-month period prior to or after the commence­ment of leave as the 12-month period.


EMPLOYER COVERAGE:
FMLA applies to all:

  • public agencies, including state, local and federal employers, local education agencies (schools), and
  • private-sector employers who employed 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year and who are engaged in commerce or in any industry or activity affecting commerce — including joint employers and successors of covered employers.

EMPLOYEE ELIGIBILITY:
To be eligible for FMLA benefits, an employee must:

  • work for a covered employer,
  • have worked for the employer for a total of 12 months,
  • have worked at least 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months*, and have 
  • worked at a location in the United States or in any territory or posses­sion of the United States where at least 50 employees are employed by the employer within 75 miles.

*Special rules for returning reservists under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act can be found at www.dol.gov.


LEAVE ENTITLEMENT:
A covered employer must grant an eligible employee up to a total of 12 work weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period for one or more of the following reasons:

  • for the birth and care of the newborn child of the employee,
  • for placement with the employee of a son or daughter for adoption or foster care,
  • to care for an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition, or
  • to take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition.

 Spouses employed by the same employer are jointly entitled to a com­bined total of 12 work-weeks of family leave for the birth and care of the newborn child, for placement of a child for adoption or foster care, and to care for a parent who has a serious health condition.

 Leave for birth and care, or placement for adoption or foster care must conclude within 12 months of the birth or placement.

 Under some circumstances, employees may take FMLA leave inter­mittently — which means taking leave in blocks of time, or by reducing their normal weekly or daily work schedule.

 If FMLA leave is for birth and care or placement for adoption or fos­ter care, use of intermittent leave is subject to the employer’s approval.

 FMLA leave may be taken intermittently whenever medically necessary to care for a seriously ill family member, or because the employee is seriously ill and unable to work.

 Also, subject to certain conditions, employees or employers may choose to use accrued paid leave (such as sick or vacation leave) to cover some or all of the FMLA leave.

 The employer is responsible for designating if an employee’s use of paid leave counts as FMLA leave, based on information from the employee.

“Serious health condition” means an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves either: 

  • any period of incapacity or treatment connected with inpatient care (i.e., an overnight stay) in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical-care facility, and any period of incapacity or subsequent treatment in connection with such inpatient care, or
  • continuing treatment by a health care provider, which includes any period of incapacity (i.e., inability to work, attend school or perform other regular daily activities) due to:
  1. a health condition (including treatment thereof, or recovery there from) lasting more than three consecutive days, and any subsequent treatment or period of incapacity relating to the same condition, that also includes:

     treatment two or more times by or under the supervision of a health care provider, or
         one treatment by a health care provider with a continuing regi­men of treatment, of:

  2. pregnancy or prenatal care. A visit to the health care provider is not necessary for each absence, or
  3. a chronic serious health condition which continues over an extended period of time, requires periodic visits to a health care provider, and may involve occasional episodes of incapacity (e.g., asthma, diabetes). A visit to a health care provider is not necessary for each absence, or
  4. a permanent or long-term condition for which treatment may not be effective (e.g., Alzheimer’s, a severe stroke, terminal cancer). Only supervision by a health care provider is required, rather than active treatment, or
  5. any absences to receive multiple treatments for restorative surgery or for a condition which would likely result in a period of incapacity of more than three days if not treated (e.g., che­motherapy or radiation treatments for cancer).