HR Badge #08: Leaves: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)-HR Badge #8

Video Transcription

Video Summary

Attorney John Dowley explains key employer duties under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), focusing on eligibility vs. qualification, required notices, leave administration, and return-to-work obligations. Employers must send an eligibility notice within five business days of a leave request or learning a leave may be FMLA-related. Eligibility requires: (1) 12 months employed (with rules for breaks in service), (2) 1,250 hours worked in the prior 12 months (leave time doesn’t count; employers need records), and (3) a 50-employee threshold within 75 miles (though CBAs may extend rights).<br /><br />Qualification depends on a covered reason: bonding with a new child, adoption/foster placement, caring for a spouse/child/parent with a serious health condition (not parent-in-law), the employee’s own serious health condition, certain military exigencies, or caring for a covered service member. Intermittent leave must be medically necessary; bonding intermittently requires employer agreement.<br /><br />Employers may require medical certification (generally due in 15 days), allow seven days to cure deficiencies, and may seek clarification/authentication, or second/third opinions in limited cases. Once enough information is known, employers must issue a designation notice within five business days, track the 12-week entitlement using a chosen 12-month method, and maintain group health coverage if employees pay their share.<br /><br />On return, employees must be restored to the same or an equivalent job, subject to limited exceptions (layoff, term/project end, key employee rules). Fitness-for-duty certification may be required if properly noticed and uniformly applied.

Keywords

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

employer eligibility notice (5 business days)

FMLA eligibility requirements (12 months, 1,250 hours, 50 employees/75 miles)

covered reasons for FMLA leave

medical certification (15 days)

designation notice (5 business days)

intermittent FMLA leave rules

12-week leave entitlement tracking (12-month method)

return-to-work restoration and fitness-for-duty certification