In accordance with the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), eligible employees may take time off work for health reasons and caregiving duties without pay. In spite of this, not every business, every employee, or every reason for leave is covered by FMLA.
Does Your Organization have to provide FMLA Leave?
You must ask yourself three questions before deciding whether your company must provide FMLA leave to an employee:
- Does your company fall under the FMLA?
- Are FMLA leaves available to the employee?
- What does the law say about the situation of the employee?
Only if your company answers yes to all three of these questions will it be legally obligated to provide FMLA leave.
How Do You Know If Your Company Is Covered by FMLA?
If at least 50 employees work for your company for 20 weeks or more in the current or previous year, you are eligible for the FMLA. This does not include independent contractors but you must include:
- Employees on a full-time basis
- Employees who work part-time
- If workers are expected to return to work after being on leave, and
- Jointly employed employees of your company and another company.
It is not necessary to have consecutive 20-week periods. FMLA coverage is available if your company employed at least 50 people during any 20 weeks during this calendar year or the previous year.
What is the Employee’s eligibility for FMLA Leave?
All three of these conditions must be met in order for an employee to qualify for FMLA leave:
- At least 50 employees must be working at the site within 75 miles of the employee. The FMLA may not be available for a small group of employees working at a remote satellite office, even if your company has thousands of employees. Defining the 75-mile radius is based on the routes (roads, highways, etc.) between company locations, and not on the crow’s flight between the locations.
- At least 12 months of service with your company is required. You do not have to serve consecutively. Regardless of whether an employee has taken a break from your company, you must count all of the employee’s time with the company. This does not apply if the break lasted more than seven years. This must be determined by the employee’s start date for leave, not the employee’s request date.
- In the 12-month period that preceded the employee’s leave, the employee must have worked 1,250 hours. In other words, the employee has worked slightly more than 24 hours each week.
What is the Employee’s FMLA-Protected Reason for Wanting to Take Leave?
The FMLA covers only a limited number of situations and reasons for leave. These include:
- A serious medical condition forces the employee to take leave. All medical conditions are not covered.
- Take a leave of absence to care for a member of your family who is ill. Under the FMLA, an employee can also take time off to care for someone who meets the eligibility requirements. However, a parent, spouse, or child may be the person to be cared for in this scenario. This does not apply to other family members.
- Take time off to bond with your parents. During the first year after the birth or placement of a foster child or adoption, you may take time off work to be with your new child.
- Leave that qualifies as exigency leave. An employee can take FMLA leave to address certain issues arising from the deployment of a family member to active military duty.
- The military caregiver leave program. The employee may take FMLA leave to provide care to a family member who suffers or has exacerbated a service-related illness or injury. Employees may be entitled to more time off under this provision since more family members may be covered.
Consult an Employment lawyer at Siman Law Firm Today.