As an employee or employer, it is essential to understand the basic rights and obligations stipulated under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The FMLA is a federal law established in 1993 to ensure job protection for eligible employees who need to take leave from work for specific medical and family reasons.
Eligibility for FMLA
An employee is eligible for FMLA leave if they have been with their employer for at least 12 months (not necessarily consecutively), have worked a minimum of 1,250 hours within the last 12 months, and work at a location where the employer has 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius.
Covered Employers
FMLA is mandatory for covered employers, which include private sector employers with 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year, federal and state government agencies, and schools.
Reasons for Taking FMLA Leave
The FMLA allows eligible employees to take leave:
- To care for a newborn child, or a newly adopted or newly placed foster child.
- To care for a family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition.
- To recover from a serious health condition that prevents the employee from performing their job duties.
- To care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness incurred in the line of duty.
- To manage family affairs during a covered service member’s deployment.
Length and Nature of FMLA Leave
Under the FMLA, eligible employees can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period. If the employee’s spouse, child, or parent is a covered service member with a serious injury or illness, the employee may take up to 26 weeks of FMLA leave in a 12-month period. The leave can be taken all at once, intermittently, or on a reduced schedule based on medical necessity or employer agreement.
Requesting FMLA Leave
Employees should provide sufficient information for the employer to understand that the leave may be covered by the FMLA. The request may be oral or written, with at least 30 days’ advance notice when practical.
Certification
Employers may request certification for FMLA leave due to an employee’s or a family member’s serious health condition or military family leave. However, they may not request a certification for leave to bond with a healthy newborn child or a child placed for adoption or foster care.
Employee Rights and Employer Obligations
Under the FMLA, employees have the right to be reinstated to their job or an equivalent job with equivalent pay and benefits. They are also entitled to maintain their health insurance coverage during their leave, and if the leave is unpaid, employers may require the employee to pay their share of premium payments.
If an employee chooses not to retain group health plan coverage during FMLA leave, they have the right to be reinstated on the same terms as prior to taking the leave upon their return.
Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)
An employer’s obligation to maintain health benefits during leave ceases under COBRA if the employment would have terminated had the employee not taken FMLA leave, the employee informs the employer of their intent not to return to work, the employee fails to return from leave, or the employee exhausts their FMLA leave entitlement in the 12-month period.
Required Notice
Employers must provide employees with a notice of their rights under the FMLA, including displaying a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) poster summarizing the FMLA.
Enforcement of FMLA
Employees can file a complaint with the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department
