FS 4803 Week 7: Families and Work

Job restoration

Upon return from FMLA leave, an employee must be restored to his or her original job or to an equivalent job with equivalent pay, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment.

Wage and Hour Division

A unit of the U.S. Department of Labor that carries out provisions of the Fair Labor Standards act: information and helpline, available 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in your time zone

Amount of time to care for servicemember

An eligible employee may also take up to 26 workweeks of leave during a "single 12-month period" to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness, when the employee is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of the servicemember. The "single 12-month period" for military caregiver leave is different from the 12-month period used for other FMLA leave reasons. See Fact Sheets 28F: Qualifying Reasons under the FMLA and 28M: The Military Family Leave Provisions under the FMLA.

Leave entitlement typical amount of time

Eligible employees may take up to 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period for one or more reasons:

Notice time frame to request leave

Employees generally must request leave 30 days in advance when the need for leave is foreseeable. When the need for leave is foreseeable less than 30 days in advance or is unforeseeable, employees must provide notice as soon as possible and practicable under the circumstances.

Group health insurance coverage

Employers are also required to continue group health insurance coverage for an employee on FMLA leave under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave.

Hours of service

Has at least 1,250 hours of service for the employer during the 12 month period immediately preceding the leave

Months of employment

Has worked for the employer for at least 12 month

Enforcement: unlawful acts

It is unlawful for any employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of or the attempt to exercise any right provided by the FMLA. It is also unlawful for an employer to discharge or discriminate against any individual for opposing any practice, or because of involvement in any 4 proceeding, related to the FMLA.

Eligible employees covered employer

Only eligible employees are entitled to take FMLA leave. An eligible employee is one who: • Works for a covered employer;

Covered employers: private-sector employer

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

Public agency, including a local, state, or Federal government agency, regardless of the number of employees it employs;

Public or private elementary or secondary school

Public or private elementary or secondary school, regardless of the number of employees it employs.

Purpose of Family and Medical Leave Act

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons.

Certification meaning of certification

When an employee requests FMLA leave due to his or her own serious health condition or a covered family member's serious health condition, the employer may require certification in support of the leave from a health care provider. An employer may also require second or third medical opinions (at the employer's expense) and periodic recertification of a serious health condition

Location of employer

Works at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles.

Eligible reasons for leave

• The birth of a son or daughter or placement of a son or daughter with the employee for adoption or foster care; • To care for a spouse, son, daughter, or parent who has a serious health condition; • For a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job; or • For any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that a spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a military member on covered active duty or call to covered active duty status