Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Office of Human Resources Rendleman Hall, Room 3210 May 5, 2014.

Family and Medical Leave Act(FMLA)

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Office of Human Resources

Rendleman Hall, Room 3210

May 5, 2014

What is the Family and Medical Leave Act?

• The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) is a federal law designed to help employees preserve their job and benefits when they need time off from work to deal with serious health situations involving themselves, a spouse, a child or a parent.

• FMLA can help employees balance family needs with work schedules so that they can take care of critical life events without losing employment and health insurance coverage.

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Why did Congress enact the Family and Medical Leave Act?

• Number of single-parent and two-parent households where both parents work is increasing significantly.

• Development of children and family units is important.• Lack of employment policies to accommodate working parents. • Inadequate job protection for employees who have serious health

conditions.• Roles of men and women in our society where primary

responsibility often falls on women to provide care.• Employment standards that apply only to one gender may create

the potential for an employer to discriminate.

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Employee/Employer Rights• Entitles an employee on FMLA to continue health benefits while on

leave as if the employee had continued to work instead of taking the leave.

• Generally gives an employee the right to return to the same or an equivalent position with equal pay, benefits and working conditions at the conclusion of the leave.

• Since an employee’s job is protected when they are absent from work on FMLA leave, no negative employment actions will be taken against them because of the absence.

• Gives the employer the right to 30 days advance notice from the employee where practical.

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Eligibility• To be eligible for FMLA benefits– Work for a covered employer at a location in the United

States or in any territory or possession of the U.S. where at least 50 employees are employed within 75 miles.

– Have worked for the employer for a total of 12 months. – Have worked at least 1,250 hours over the previous 12

months.

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FMLA-Qualifying Illness or Injury

• Employee's own serious health condition that prohibits the employee from performing all or part of the essential functions of his or her position within the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

• Birth of a child and the care of the child within the 12 months immediately following birth.

• Placement of a child in the employee's home for adoption or foster care within 12 months immediately following placement.

• Physical or psychological care due to a chronic or serious health condition of the employee's immediate family because of a mental or physical disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

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Serious Health ConditionSerious health condition of an employee is defined as:• A condition that makes the employee unable to perform the

functions of his/her position.

Care of an immediate family member who has a serious health condition:

• Immediate family member is a legally married spouse, parent, son, daughter or licensed civil union partner.

• Parent means the biological parent, adoptive parent, or step-parent of an employee. This does not include “in-laws.”

• Son or daughter means a biological, adopted or foster child, stepchild or a legal ward of the employee.

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Chronic Health Condition

• An employee claiming a chronic health condition - Must make 2 in-person visits to a health care provider each year for the same underlying condition. - May have episodic rather than a continuing period of incapacity.

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Intermittent & Reduced Schedule Leave

• Intermittent leave is leave that is taken in separate blocks of time for a single qualifying reason.– Must be “medically necessary”– Can be planned or unplanned

• Foreseeable intermittent leave should be scheduled to avoid disrupting the department’s daily operation.

• FMLA also allows for a reduced work schedule if necessitated by an FMLA-qualifying condition.

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Military Family Leave • Qualifying Exigency Leave

– Relatives of those called to active duty in the National Guard, Armed Forces and Reserves can take 12 weeks of leave for qualifying “exigencies.”

– The qualifying exigencies include:• Short-notice deployment• Military events and related activities• Child care and school activities• Financial and legal arrangements• Counseling• Rest and recuperation• Post-deployment activities• Parental Care

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Military Caregiver Leave• Relatives of seriously injured or ill service members are

eligible for up to 26 weeks of unpaid FMLA caregiver leave.• Eligible Relatives include spouses, civil union, parents,

children, and “next of kin”.• “Next of kin” includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, first

cousins, and any relative so designated by the service member.

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FMLA Leave• FMLA runs concurrently with sick leave, vacation, disability,

workers’ compensation and other types of leave.• The 12-month period for leave entitlement starts the first day

the employee is off work due to a qualifying event. Leave entitlement is calculated on a rolling year basis.

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Work-Related Injury or Illness

• All Workers’ Compensation time must be designated as FMLA and deducted from an employee’s FMLA balance.

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Supervisor Responsibilities

When to advise employees of FMLA rights• Absenteeism issues due to illness• Disclosure of ongoing medical condition

- Self- Covered family member

• Visible serious health condition

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Supervisor ResponsibilitiesBenefits Approved Leave• Benefits will contact the employee for any needed medical

documentation.• Benefits will contact department if leave is approved.• Department must submit to HR all Intermittent and Continuous

FMLA leave.• Department must notify Benefits at [email protected] of

all leave taken immediately.• All medical documentation must remain in Benefits department.

– No originals or copies of medical documentation should remain the department.

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Supervisor Responsibilities

• Ensure that HR is advised and a FMLA Request Form is completed when:– An employee requests leave– An employee is out on sick leave for more than 3 days – An employee requests intermittent leave or a reduced/altered

work schedule for any of the reasons covered by FMLA• Review the timesheet of an employee on FMLA leave for

accuracy.

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Who approves and tracks FMLA leave? • Based on the documentation provided by the employee’s

medical professional, HR will make the final determination if the leave qualifies for FMLA.

• The department and/or employee will submit the FMLA leave time to HR at [email protected] immediately.

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Supervisor Responsibilities Return to Work

• Keep Benefits informed of employees leave status or any changes to that status.

• Direct employees to Benefits for any updates to their status.• Benefits will contact departments to approve any restrictions

before an employee can return to work.• Employee must provide Benefits with a physician’s release

before returning to work.

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Employee Responsibilities Return to Work

• Notify Benefits and Department of return date.• Submit written physician release to Benefits prior to return. • Report to work on anticipated return date.

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Leave Extension

• If leave needs extended, medical documentation must be provided prior to the original release date with an explanation and a new expected return date.

• Failure to return or provide physician documentation could result in discipline.

• Ongoing intermittent FMLA must be medically recertified every 6 months as needed.– Employees/Departments must monitor the end date of ongoing

intermittent FMLA situations. HR will not provide a reminder at the end of the intermittent FMLA leave.

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Scenario 1• Jamie has just learned that she is pregnant with her first child.

She's excited about starting a family, but knows she needs to continue working after the baby is born. She doesn't know what's available to her and what she needs to do. Now what?

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Answer• Pregnancy is covered under FMLA so Jamie is eligible for 12 weeks of leave

and entitled to return to her job. She should visit the HR Benefits website to get information about FMLA leave.

• When Jamie is ready to share the news with her department, she should – Fill out the FMLA Request indicating that she needs time off – Notify her supervisor and have him/her sign her FMLA request– Have her physician fill out and sign the appropriate Medical Certification

form located on the HR Benefits website – Forward the completed FMLA request and Medical Certification forms to

the Benefits Department.– Jamie may use accrued sick or vacation leave until her physician

releases her back to work. After her release, vacation may only be used for the remainder of her approved leave.

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Scenario 2• Sara just learned that her mother had a stroke. She needs to

travel out of state to take care of her mother and make long-term care arrangements if necessary. Is Sara eligible for FMLA?

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Answer• Sara is eligible for up to 12 weeks of family and medical leave to

care for her mother. Using the FMLA Request form, she needs to request the leave from her supervisor and contact HR Benefits as soon as possible.

• She will need to provide medical certification for her mother's health condition within 15 days.

• If Sara has to take time to move her mother to a care facility, that will also be covered by the FMLA.

• Sara must use vacation time since her mother does not live in her household. Sick leave can only be used if she makes a formal request to the Director of Human Resources and it is approved.

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Scenario 3

Kim has worked for SIUE for 12 months and has always worked 20 hours per week. Based on the length of service and hours worked, Kim is eligible for FMLA leave.

True or False?

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Answer

FALSE!• SIUE employees must have worked at least 12 months and

must have worked a minimum of 1,250 hours during the previous 12 months to be considered eligible for FMLA leave.

• Kim worked 20 hours a week for 52 weeks of employment or 1,040 hours.

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Scenario 4• George is out for a full week with strep throat. He went to the

doctor and got a prescription for an antibiotic. Is this a serious health condition covered by FMLA?

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Answer

Yes!• George was treated by a physician only once but was under

continuing supervision because he was taking a prescription medication.

• If his physician had not prescribed antibiotics, his time off would not be protected by FMLA, but he may be eligible to use sick leave.

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Scenario 5• Tamika's daughter has food allergies which are sometimes so

serious she has to stay home with her and which require frequent physician appointments. Are these frequent absences covered by FMLA?

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Answer• After requesting the time off using the FMLA Request form and

providing the appropriate Medical Certification required, Tamika learns from HR that her daughter's allergies qualify as a serious health condition and she is entitled to use Intermittent FMLA.– HR Benefits will inform her supervisor when she has been approved

for Intermittent FMLA leave.– Tamika must also inform her supervisor when she is taking leave

intermittently for this medical reason only.– The department must inform HR Benefits immediately of any

intermittent leave taken. This can be accomplished by emailing [email protected] to accurately track the authorized leave. This email should only be used to track Intermittent FMLA leave.

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Scenario 6• John is having cardiac complications. His doctor wants to

perform surgery next week. He will need to take 2 days off for the surgery (prep and surgery) and then 3 weeks off for recovery. After that, he will have follow up appointments for the next 6 months. Will John’s leave be covered under FMLA? If so, does John have to be absent for 3 days before FMLA applies?

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Answer

YES and NO!• John’s condition would be considered a serious health

condition.• As long as his leave is tied to either treatment or recovery of

his condition, then he would be eligible for up to 12 weeks of leave under FMLA.

• John is not required to be absent 3 days as his condition is a chronic condition and/or he is receiving in-patient care at a hospital.

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Scenario 7• Nick has been approved for Intermittent FMLA leave for

debilitating migraine headaches. His department has asked him to bring a medical certification each time he is out with a migraine. Is this policy consistent with FMLA regulations?

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AnswerNo!

• HR may request a medical recertification for Intermittent FMLA no more than six months from the date the Intermittent FMLA was approved. The employee must also be given 15 calendar days to produce it.

• An employer may not request recertification in less than the period specified, unless – An extension of the leave is requested – Circumstances described by the previous certification

have changed– The employer receives information that casts doubt on the

reason for the employee’s absence.

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Scenario 8• Sherrie dropped a computer monitor on her foot while at

work. She has applied for worker’s compensation benefits since she broke several toes and is unable to work. Is Sherrie eligible for FMLA leave?

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Answer

Yes and No!• FMLA does not distinguish between work-related and non

work-related injuries.• If the employee is eligible for leave under FMLA and the injury

is considered a "serious health condition," the worker’s compensation leave is treated under FMLA.

• Any on-the-job injury that requires an employee to take leave to seek inpatient care or continuing treatment likely will be covered by the FMLA.

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Contact Information• For further information or questions about FMLA, please visit:

http://www.siue.edu/humanresources/benefits/leaves/fmla/index.shtml

Email: [email protected]: 618-650-2190Fax: 618-650-2646

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