FMLA | Current Employees

FMLA | Current Employees
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Family and Medical Leave Act Overview
FMLA stands for the
Family and Medical Leave Act
. It is a federal law in the United States that allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of
unpaid
leave for specific family or medical reasons without risking job loss. The FMLA provides job protection and continuation of health insurance coverage during the leave period. Eligible reasons for FMLA leave include the birth, adoption, or fostering of a child, the serious health condition of the employee or an immediate family member, and certain qualifying exigencies arising from a family member’s military service.
Employees have the option to substitute accrued paid leave for unpaid FMLA leave, as long as they comply with the employer’s applicable paid leave policy. This means that paid leave and FMLA leave will run concurrently, and the employee will receive pay according to the paid leave policy while being protected under the FMLA. Employers may also require employees to use their accrued paid leave for FMLA purposes.
If you have any questions or need assistance with the FMLA process, contact the UFHR University Benefits Central Leave team at
central-leave@ufl.edu
or call (352) 392-2477.
Am I Eligible?
To be eligible for FMLA, you must:
Have at least 12 months of employment (need not be consecutive) with UF.
Have worked at least 1,250 hours for UF during the 12 months prior to the FMLA leave start date. Only hours actually worked for the employer count towards the 1,250-hour requirement. Paid leave such as vacation, sick, or holidays are not included.
Not have exhausted your current FMLA entitlement.
What Qualifies for FMLA?
FMLA applies to the following conditions:
Twelve workweeks of leave in a 12-month period for:
the birth of a child and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth;
the placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care and to care for the newly placed child within one year of placement;
to care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition;
a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job;
any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, child, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty;” or
Twenty-six workweeks of leave during a single 12-month period to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness if the eligible employee is the servicemember’s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin (military caregiver leave).
FMLA Vocabulary
Immediate Family Member:
For the purposes of the FMLA, immediate family member is defined as the child, parent, or spouse of the employee.
Child:
Includes foster, legal ward, step, or other child under the age of 18 (unless the adult child is incapable of “self-care” because of a mental or physical handicap) for whom the employee stands in place of a parent.
Parent:
The biological, adoptive, foster or stepparent of an employee or an individual who stands or stood in loco parentis to an employee when he or she was a child.
Spouse:
A husband or wife as defined or recognized under State law for purposes of marriage in the State where the employee resides, including common law marriage in States where it is recognized.
Next of Kin Relatives:
Nearest blood relative other than spouse, parents, or children, when the injury is incurred in the line of duty, including siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and first cousins.
Health Care Provider:
Includes doctor of medicine or osteopathy, podiatrist, dentist, clinical psychologist, optometrist, chiropractor, nurse practitioner, nurse-midwife, Christian Science practitioner, clinical social worker, and health care providers from whom the employer or the employer’s group health care plan will accept certification of a serious health condition, and any health care provider meeting the preceding definition authorized to practice in another country.
Serious Health Condition:
Defined as an injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves either inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential care facility or a continuing regimen of treatment by a health care provider for more than three consecutive days. Chronic conditions that cause periodic incapacitation and pregnancy-related conditions also qualify.
Qualifying Exigencies:
May include short notice deployments (seven days or less), attending certain military events, arranging for childcare or attending school meetings, addressing certain financial and legal affairs, attending certain counseling sessions, attending post-deployment reintegration briefings, rest and recuperation (up to five days), and other events rising out of active duty or call to duty.
Employees may take FMLA leave intermittently, in separate blocks of time for a single qualifying reason, or on a reduced schedule, which involves reducing the usual weekly or daily work hours. Leave type may change during the FMLA entitlement period based on the employee’s situation. When leave is needed for planned medical treatment, the employee should make a reasonable effort to schedule it in a way that minimizes disruption to the employer’s operations.
Continuous leave:
An employee is absent for more than 3 consecutive days and has ongoing medical treatment.
Reduced work schedule leave:
An employee continues to work, but the employee’s regular work schedule is reduced to a certain number of hours per day, week, and/or month.
Intermittent/Sporadic leave:
An employee takes leave in periodic increments of time; hourly, daily, and/or weekly increments. This leave is generally unscheduled and sporadic in nature.
Duration of leave:
Date the leave begins and the return to work date; Office visits and healthcare provider’s appointments for intermittent/sporadic leave.
Continuing Treatment by a Health Care Provider:
A period of incapacity (inability to work, attend school, or perform other regular daily activities due to a serious health condition) of more than three consecutive calendar days, involving:
Treatment two or more times by a health care provider, or treatment by a health care provider on at least one occasion that results in a regimen of continuing treatment under the health care provider’s supervision;
Pregnancy or prenatal care qualifies even if an employee does not receive treatment and even if the care does not last three days;
A chronic serious health condition, defined as one that requires periodic visits for treatment by a health care provider, continues over an extended period of time, and may cause episodic rather than continuous incapacity (e.g., asthma, severe morning sickness);
A permanent or long-term condition for which treatment may not be effective (e.g. Alzheimer’s disease, severe stroke, terminal stages of a disease);
An absence to receive multiple treatments by a health care provider either for restorative surgery after an accident or injury or for a condition that likely would result in incapacity of more than three consecutive calendar days in the absence of medical treatment (e.g., cancer, severe arthritis).
In addition to these five broad categories, the FMLA regulations also include in the definition of “continuing treatment by a health care provider” allergies or mental illness resulting from stress, but only if they meet all of the other criteria of a serious illness, and substance abuse, but only if the employee is taking leave for treatment by a health care provider.
How to request FMLA leave
To begin the FMLA process or for eligibility questions, please complete the
Extended Leave of Absence Request Form
or contact us at (352) 392-2477. For more details on the FMLA process, check out the
FMLA Employee Process Map
For FMLA leave requests, employees should give a 30-day advance notice. In cases of unforeseeable leave needs, they should provide notice as soon as reasonably possible.
Employees are required to provide sufficient information for UF Central Leave to determine whether FMLA applies to the leave request. If the need for leave is connected to a previously approved FMLA reason, the employee must explicitly state the reason or the necessity for FMLA leave. All medical certifications and documents with private or confidential information must be submitted directly to UFHR Central Leave using one of the methods below:
Fax: (352) 392-5166
In Person: 903 West University Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32601
Inter-office/Postal Mail: PO Box 115007, Gainesville, FL 32611
Email:
fmla@hr.ufl.edu
For information about the return to work process, please visit our
Returning to Work
web page.
Employee Resources
UF FMLA Policy
Request for Extended Leave of Absence
Medical Certification – Employee’s Serious Health Condition
Medical Certification – Family Member’s Serious Health Condition
Medical Release Form
Supplemental Physical Requirements Form
Return to Work Guide
Department of Labor Employee Protections Under the FMLA
FMLA Poster
If you have questions or believe your FMLA rights have been violated, contact your Departmental Human Resources (HR) representative, UF Central Leave, Employee Relations at (352) 392-1072, or the Ethics and Compliance Hotline at (877) 556-5356.
Need Help?
Please contact UF Central Leave at (352) 392-2477 or email us at
central-leave@ufl.edu
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