Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

FMLA stands for Family and Medical Leave Act. This law is designed to help employees balance their work and family responsibilities by allowing them to take reasonable, job-protected, unpaid leave for certain covered reasons.

The Family and Medical Leave Act entitles eligible employees to up to 12 weeks of leave during a 12-month period for certain family and medical reasons. Eligible employees may also take up to 26 weeks of FMLA leave to care for a family member injured or made ill because of military service.

Employers may select one of four options for determining the 12-month period:

• The calendar year;
• Any fixed 12-month "leave year" such as a fiscal year, a year required by state law, or a year starting on the employee's "anniversary" date;
• The 12-month period measured forward from the date any employee's first FMLA leave begins; or
• A "rolling" 12-month period measured backward from the date an employee uses FMLA leave.

Military caregiver leave year is measured forward from the date leave begins. State law may also require a particular method be used. The DOL has indicated that if this is the case, you are to use that method for leave under federal law as well.

No. The Family and Medical Leave Act only requires unpaid leave. The law, however, permits an employee to elect, or the employer to require the employee, to use accrued paid leave, such as vacation or sick leave, for some or all of the leave period. When paid leave is substituted for unpaid FMLA leave, it may be counted against the 12- or 26-week FMLA leave entitlement if the employee is properly notified of the designation when the leave begins.

It can. FMLA leave and workers' compensation leave may run concurrently, provided the reason for the absence is due to a qualifying serious health condition and the employer properly notifies the employee in writing that the leave will be counted as FMLA leave. While employees may substitute accrued paid leave for unpaid FMLA leave, because an absence under workers' comp is not unpaid, the provision for substituting paid leave is not applicable. Employers and employees may agree, however, where state law allows, to have paid leave supplement workers comp benefits, such as where workers' compensation provides replacement income for only two-thirds of an employee's salary.

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) provides reemployment rights for employees who plan to engage in, are engaged in, or have been engaged in military duty. FMLA provides job-protected leave for employees who have family members who are engaged in military service. While these two laws deal with separate military-related employment issues, they do have some overlapping provisions. Find out more.