FMLA FAQs

The Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was enacted into law in 1993.

“Entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons with continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave.”

Coverage areas are one of the most popular FMLA questions. The standard time frame under FMLA is 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period. The different types of situations that it covers for an employee include:

• The birth and care of a newborn child within one year of birth
• The placement and care of a child for adoption or foster care within one year of placement
• Caring for a spouse, child or parent who has a serious health condition.
• Time off for a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job.
• A qualifying need arising out of the fact that a spouse, son, daughter or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty”

Also, there is an extended leave covered in the area of military service called military caregiver leave. It entitles the employee to 26 workweeks of leave during a single 12-month period to care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness if the eligible employee is the service member’s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin.

It is also important to note that parental leave under the FMLA after the birth of a child or the adoption or fostering of a child is available for both parents.

Not everyone who works qualifies for leave under the Family & Medical Leave Act. An eligible employee is defined as one that:

• Works for a covered employer
• Has worked for the employer for at least 12 months.
• Has a minimum of 1,250 hours of service for the employer during the 12-month period immediately prior to the leave.
• Works at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles

No. The FMLA only requires unpaid leave. The law does permit an employee to use accrued paid vacation leave, paid sick or family leave for some or all of the FMLA leave period. FMLA law also allows an employer to require an employee to use accrued sick or vacation time. An employee must follow the employer’s normal leave rules in order to substitute paid leave.

Once you return from FMLA leave (either after a block of leave or an intermittent leave), FMLA law requires the employer return you to the same job or one that is nearly identical (equivalent). If, for example, they demote you to a job with less responsibility or lower pay, that could be a violation of the law. This protection only applies if you return before your leave runs out. In other words, if you are on leave for more than the allotted 12-week period, you lose the right to return to the same job protections of the Act.

Lincoln University uses a “rolling’’ 12-month period measured backward from the date an employee uses any FMLA leave.

Contact Human Resources at hrs@lincolnu.edu, and they can assist you with discussing other leave options.

You will continue to be responsible for paying your monthly premium for your benefits during FMLA leave. If you have accrued leave available to use during FMLA, your deductions will continue through payroll.  If you have run out of accrued leave, and are not receiving any pay, you will be responsible for making the necessary arrangement to pay these deductions. Human Resources will notify MCHCP that you are on FMLA leave without pay, and they will mail you the necessary information to continue paying them for your coverage.

When it is medically necessary, employees may take FMLA leave intermittently, taking leave in separate blocks of time for a single qualifying reason-or on a reduced leave schedule-reducing the employee’s usual weekly or daily work schedule. When leave is needed for planned medical treatment, the employee must make a reasonable effort to schedule treatment so as not to unduly disrupt the employer’s operation.

Yes. Assuming you work for a covered employer and are eligible for FMLA leave, you may take leave if you are unable to work due to a serious physical or mental health condition. 

The U.S. Department of Labor defines a serious medical condition as one that requires either inpatient care or ongoing medical treatment. For example, needing to attend a family counseling session for a family member in an inpatient treatment program at a residential medical care facility may qualify under the FMLA. If a family member requires hospitalization for an eating disorder, that may also qualify. Other mental health conditions that may qualify under the FMLA include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and severe anxiety disorders.

Employees seeking to use FMLA leave are required to provide 30-day advance notice of the need to take FMLA leave when the need is foreseeable and such notice is practicable. If leave is foreseeable less than 30 days in advance, the employee must provide notice as soon as practicable – generally, either the same or next business day. When the need for leave is not foreseeable, the employee must provide notice to the employer as soon as practicable. Employees must comply with the employer’s usual and customary notice and procedural requirements for requesting leave.

Human Resources encourages employees to contact the HR office if they have questions about the basis for leaves and requesting leave. Reach them at:  hrs@lincolnu.edu