When your child's medical needs require that you take more time off from work than what you have vacation days or sick leave to cover, what can you do?
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows covered employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for certain family and medical reasons.
An employee is eligible if they have worked for a covered employer for at least 12 months (even if not 12 consecutive months), and for 1,250 hours during the previous 12 months, and if the workplace is within 75 miles of 50 or more employees.
Unpaid leave must be granted to the employee for any of the following reasons:
An employee may elect - or an employer may require the employee - to substitute the employee's accrued paid vacation, sick or family leave for part of the unpaid FMLA leave.
When leave is foreseeable, an employee must provide the employer with at least 30 days notice of the need for leave. If the need for leave is not foreseeable, then as much notice must be given as is possible. In addition, the employee may be required to provide medical certification to support a medical leave request, be required to obtain a second or third opinion (at the employer's expense), may be required to make periodic reports of status and intent to return to work, and be required to obtain a fitness for duty report to return to work.
If the employer normally pays for health insurance, then the employer must maintain the employee's health coverage at the same level and in the same manner as if the employee had continued to work.
FMLA gives employers the choice of reinstating an employee on FMLA leave to the same or an equivalent position at the end of the leave. An equivalent position is one that is virtually identical to the former position in terms of pay, benefits and working conditions, including privileges, perquisites and status, and must involve the same or substantially similar duties and responsibilities, and require equivalent skill, effort, responsibility and authority.
Employers are prohibited from considering an employee's use of FMLA leave as a negative factor in any employment actions such as promotions or discipline.
FMLA leave does not have to be taken all at once, but can, under certain circumstances, be taken intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule. For example, if the employer agrees, an employee can work part-time after the birth of a child. It can also be taken intermittently for medical treatment or recovery from a serious health condition. Examples of intermittent leave would include leave taken on an occasional basis for medical appointments, or taken several days at a time spread over a period of months, such as for chemotherapy. A pregnant employee may take leave intermittently for prenatal examinations.
For more information, contact your employer, the Oklahoma Department of Labor at 405/528-1500 or 888/269-5353, the Wage & Hour Division of the U.S. Dept. of Labor at 501/324-5292, or access the following web site on Family Medical Leave Act http://www.dol.gov/dol/asp/public/programs/handbook/fmla.htm
last modified: July 1999