Understanding your rights for family leave helps you plan for work absences that fall under the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA. The act requires that certain circumstances be met for eligibility. Planning ahead for the absence gives you time to ensure that all of the eligibility requirements are met, which helps reduce your stress during the major event in your family's life.
Qualifications
An employee must meet certain qualifications to be eligible for an FMLA-covered leave. You must work for an employer that falls under FMLA for at least 12 months. The 12-month period does not have to be consecutive, but a gap of seven years or more means the employer doesn't have to count the prior service. In the 12 months before the FMLA leave, you must have accumulated at least 1,250 total work hours.
Covered Events
FMLA covers four distinct family and medically related events. The act applies to giving birth and caring for a newborn of the employee, an employee adopting a child or taking in a foster child, caring for an immediate family member with a serious medical condition and your own serious medical condition.
Benefits
An eligible employee is allowed up to 12 work weeks of leave per calendar year for a qualifying event. The leave may be unpaid, depending on your employer's policies. Your employer may allow you to use your accrued vacation or sick time to have some or all of the FMLA leave paid, but your employer is not required to pay you for the absence. At the end of the FMLA leave, you are guaranteed your job or an equivalent job within the company. The leave cannot count against you under your employer's attendance policy.
Employer's Responsibilities
All employers with at least 50 employees during 20 or more calendar weeks fall under FMLA. The employer must continue providing health-care coverage to the employee during an FMLA leave as if she were still working. The employer does not have to continue non-health care benefits during the absence, but all benefits earned before the leave must be restored once you return to work.
Notice
For situations that allow you advance knowledge of a need for an FMLA leave, you must give 30 days of notice. Unforeseen qualifying events require notice to the employer as soon as possible. The employee provides the information necessary to determine if she qualifies for an FMLA leave, including the specific reason for the leave request. The employer sometimes requires documentation from the health-care provider to verify the reason for the absence.
