Employees as well as HR professionals are often confused on FMLA guidelines and what the actual “Family and Medical Leave Act” includes. I’ve often heard friends and family say, “So, how much maternity leave are you going to take? Don’t you get 12 weeks? Isn’t it paid.” Each question is a valid one, but can be sorely inaccurate depending on your company, it’s size, it’s benefits, and your tenure/position.
The US Department of Labor has stated on their website, “The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons with continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave.” FMLA itself is regulated by the US Department of Labor and has intentions to be administered the same across state lines. There are various forms, fact sheets, and documents that the US DOL provides on it’s website to make the administration of FMLA a more simple process (but can often be confusing).
First, the employee must work for a covered employer who must meet certain criteria. A covered employer is:
• Private-sector employer, with 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year, including a joint employer or successor in interest to a covered employer;
• Public agency, including a local, state, or Federal government agency, regardless of the number of employees it employs; or
• Public or private elementary or secondary school, regardless of the number of employees it employs.
Once you’ve established if you work for a covered employer, you will next need to establish your eligibility. According to the Act, eligible employees 1. have worked for the employer for at least 12 months; 2. has at least 1,250 hours of service for the employer during the 12 month period immediately preceding the leave; and 3. works at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within a 75 mile radius.
Now if you’ve established that you both work for a covered employer, and are an eligible employee, the entitlement is listed as “up to twelve workweeks of leave in a 12-month period for:
- the birth of a child and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth;
- the placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care and to care for the newly placed child within one year of placement;
- to care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition;
- a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job;
- any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty;” or
- Twenty-six workweeks of leave during a single 12-month period to care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness if the eligible employee is the service member’s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin (military caregiver leave).”
From these examples, you can see that not everyone who works a full time or even part time job will be entitled to the benefits of FMLA. FMLA is sometimes referred to “maternity leave” because some female employees will enact their use of FMLA and the rights contained within to make sure they have a job upon returning from having a child. But it’s not just for “maternity leave.” Employees can use it for any of the above reasons; but will have to verify and show proof to their employer of the validity of their need for leave. On the forms provided by the US Department of Labor, the employer can require a medical certification, documentation, and/or second opinions to make sure the employee is using the FMLA leave in accordance with the intent in which it was written.
FMLA leave can also be taken in shorter increments than a continual leave. The FMLA fact sheet states “Under some circumstances, employees may take FMLA leave on an intermittent or reduced schedule basis. That means an employee may take leave in separate blocks of time or by reducing the time he or she works each day or week for a single qualifying reason. When leave is needed for planned medical treatment, the employee must make a reasonable effort to schedule treatment so as not to unduly disrupt the employer’s operations. If FMLA leave is for the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child, use of intermittent or reduced schedule leave requires the employer’s approval.” From my experience, intermittent leave is more difficult to track and regulate. It’s vitally important that an HR professional understand all the various legalities and regulations involving all types of FMLA leave. Using a PEO like Solution Services can relieve the stress of administering and tracking FMLA leave from your company and take care of it for you. Give us a call today to find out how our firm can help you with all your Human Resource needs!
(all FMLA information taken directly from the US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division website. It can be found here: http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/)
