(The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 - CFR 29-825; AHRMS Policy Manual
105-6)
The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles you, if you meet its
definition of eligible employee (see below), to a total of twelve work weeks of
leave during any twelve-month period for one of the following reasons:
- The birth of your child and to care for your newborn child;
- The placement of a child with you for adoption or foster care;
- The care of your spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health
condition; or
- A serious health condition that makes you unable to perform the functions
of your job.
The twelve-month period during which you may take up to 12 weeks of FMLA
leave is the calendar year (January through December.) In the case of your
child's birth or adoption, the twelve-month period begins with the child's birth
or placement. The actual amount of FMLA leave you take after your child's birth
or adoption should be mutually agreed upon with your supervisor, taking into
account your doctor's recommendations and any birth-related complications or
serious health conditions.
Family and medical leave is leave without pay. However, the University
requires you to use your accrued paid leave for as much of the twelve-week
period as it will cover. If the reason for the family and medical leave is the
birth or adoption of a child or an illness or injury for which you receive
Workers' Compensation benefits, you may take unpaid leave, in accordance with
University policies. Paid leave to handle personal and family medical needs is
available under the sick leave, annual leave and catastrophic leave policies.
Compensatory time off may not be counted as part of your FMLA entitlement, but
it must be exhausted before you are granted leave without pay, and you may
request the use of your compensatory time for an FMLA reason.
When the University becomes aware that your leave is for a purpose covered by
the FMLA, it has the responsibility to notify you that you have been placed on
FMLA leave. The University must make a determination about whether the leave
will count as FMLA leave within two business days of the time you request the
leave, or if there is not sufficient information to make the determination, at
the point the information becomes available. If the University learns that your
leave is for an FMLA purpose after your leave has begun or within two work days
of your return to work, the entire leave or a portion of it may be counted
retroactively as FMLA leave.
If you take or plan to take leave which meets the FMLA definitions, you must
notify your supervisor that the leave was for an FMLA qualified event within two
work days of your return to work and it must be designated as FMLA leave so you
will have FMLA protection for your absence.
FMLA leave may be taken intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule under
certain circumstances.
- If you take FMLA leave on an intermittent or reduced leave (part-time)
schedule, it will not reduce the total amount of FMLA leave to which you are
entitled. Only the amount of leave actually taken is counted toward your
twelve-week entitlement. For example, if you normally work five days a week and
take one day off for a qualifying FMLA purpose, you will use one-fifth of a week
of FMLA leave.
- You may take FMLA leave intermittently when it is medically necessary. If
you request intermittent leave that is foreseeable because of planned medical
treatment, your supervisor or department may require you to transfer temporarily
to an available alternative position with equivalent pay and benefits but which
better accommodates recurring periods of leave.
- When you take FMLA leave for the birth of your child or the placement of a
child with you for adoption or foster care, you may take the leave
intermittently only if your supervisor agrees to the proposed arrangement. You
may, with your supervisor's agreement, work part-time after the birth or
placement of your child or take FMLA leave in several segments, up to the
twelve-week cumulative limit. You do not need your supervisor's prior approval
for FMLA leave if you are a new mother and have a serious health condition in
connection with the birth of your child or if the newborn child has a serious
health condition.
- If you are an expectant mother, you may take FMLA leave before the birth
of your child for prenatal care or if your condition makes you unable to work.
- FMLA leave is designated for leave that is used before the actual
placement or adoption of a child if your absence from work is necessary for the
adoption or foster care placement to proceed. For example, you may be required
to attend counseling sessions, appear in court, consult with your attorney,
consult with a doctor who represents the birth parent, or submit to a physical
examination.
- You may use an intermittent or reduced leave schedule to care for a family
member in a situation where the family member's condition itself is
intermittent, when you need to share care responsibilities with another person,
or when you need to make arrangements for changes in your family member's care,
such as a transfer to a nursing home.
- You may take intermittent FMLA leave for your own serious health condition
which requires treatment by a health care provider periodically, rather than for
one continuous period of time.
- You may take intermittent or reduced schedule FMLA leave for absences when
you are incapacitated or unable to perform the essential functions of your job
because of a chronic serious health condition even if you do not receive
treatment by a health care provider. If you must care for a family member who is
incapacitated by a chronic serious health condition, you may use intermittent
FMLA leave to care for him or her even if your family member does not receive
treatment by a health care provider, as long as there has been an initial
diagnosis by a health care provider and you have submitted the completed
certification form (see below.)
To be eligible for FMLA leave, you must have been employed by the University
for at least twelve months and must have worked at least 1,250 hours during the
twelve-month period prior to the beginning of your leave.
If you and your spouse are both employed by the University, you are entitled
to a total of twelve weeks leave, rather than twelve weeks each, for the birth
or adoption of a child or to care for a sick parent. However, each of you is
entitled to twelve weeks of FMLA leave for your own serious health condition or
to care for your child or spouse. You and your spouse are entitled to a combined
annual total of twelve weeks of FMLA leave to care for your own parents (not
parents-in-law.)
Your use of FMLA leave for your own serious health condition or to care for a
seriously ill child, spouse, or parent must be supported by a certificate issued
by a health care provider. The certificate must contain the following
information: the date on which the serious health condition began, the probable
duration of the condition, and the appropriate medical facts within the
knowledge of the health care provider regarding the condition. If your FMLA
leave is to care for a family member, the certificate must contain a statement
that you are needed to care for your child, spouse, or parent, and an estimate
of the amount of time required. If the FMLA leave is for your own serious health
condition, a statement that you are unable to perform the functions of your job
must be included.
FMLA leave designation forms and copies of the certificate to be completed by
your or your family member's health care provider are available from your
department leave representative or from Human Resources.
If you submit a complete certification signed by a health care provider, the
University may not request additional information from your health care
provider. However, a health care provider who represents the University may
contact your health care provider, with your permission, to clarify or
authenticate the medical certification. If there is reason to doubt the validity
of your medical certification, the University may require a second opinion from
a health care provider it designates. If that opinion differs, the opinion of a
third health care provider, jointly approved by you and the University, may be
solicited. That opinion shall be final and binding. The University will be
responsible for the expense of the second and third opinions.
When the necessity for FMLA leave is foreseeable, you must provide the
University with a completed Certificate of Health Care Provider form thirty days
before your leave begins. If circumstances require that the leave begin in less
than thirty days, you should provide as much notice as possible. In cases of
illness, you may be required to report periodically on your leave status and
your intention to return to work. You may be required to provide recertification
on a reasonable basis, but not more often than every thirty days. Any medical
information which you or your medical care provider submit will be considered
confidential.
Upon return from FMLA leave, you will be reinstated in your former position
or a position with equivalent benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of
employment. Other than paid leave which you take during the FMLA leave period,
you will not lose any benefits accrued prior to your leave. You will not be
entitled to any right, benefit, or position other than what you would have been
entitled to if you had not taken FMLA leave.
If you participate in the University's group health care benefit plan, your
coverage will be maintained, and the University will continue to pay its share
of your premium while you are on FMLA leave. You will be responsible for paying
the employee portion of your premium. You may choose not to retain your health
care coverage during your FMLA leave. If you do so, you are entitled to have
your coverage reinstated upon your return to work, without any qualifying
period, physical examination, exclusion of pre-existing conditions, or other
qualification that did not exist before you went on leave.
If your payment for your portion of the health insurance premium is more than
thirty days late, the University's obligation to maintain your health insurance
coverage ends. You must be given written notice that your payment has not been
received, and that notice must be mailed at least fifteen days before your
coverage is to end. The University may recover its share of your health
insurance premium paid during unpaid FMLA leave if you fail to return to work
for a reason other than a serious health condition or because of circumstances
beyond your control. If the University has maintained other benefits, such as
life or disability insurance, in order to meet its responsibility to provide
equivalent benefits upon your return from FMLA leave, it may recover the costs
incurred for paying the premium, whether you return to work or not.
The Family and Medical Leave Act makes it unlawful for an employer to
interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of the rights provided by this
law. It is also unlawful for an employer to discharge or discriminate against
any employee who is involved in a proceeding related to the FMLA. Use of Family
and Medical Leave cannot be a consideration in decisions to hire, promote, or
discipline employees.
The following definitions are used in the FMLA regulations:
Serious health condition means an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or
mental condition that involves:
- Inpatient care: Any period of incapacity or treatment in connection with
or consequent to inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical
care facility;
- Continuing treatment by a health care provider: Any period of incapacity
of more than three consecutive calendar days, that also involves continuing
treatment as follows:
- Treatment two or more times by a health care provider, by a nurse or
physician's assistant under direct supervision of a health care provider, or by
a provider of health care services (e.g., physical therapist) under orders of,
or on referral by, a health care provider; or
- Treatment by a health care
provider on at least one occasion which results in a regimen of continuing
treatment under supervision of a health care provider. A regimen of continuing
treatment includes, for example, a course of prescription medication or therapy
requiring special equipment to resolve or alleviate the health condition. It
does not include taking over-the-counter medications or other similar activities
that can be initiated without a visit to a health care provider.
- Any period of incapacity due to pregnancy.
- Treatment for a chronic health condition that 1) requires periodic visits
for treatment by a health care provider, or by a nurse or physician's assistant
under direct supervision of a health care provider, 2) continues over an
extended period of time (including recurring episodes of a single underlying
condition), and 3) may cause episodic rather than a continuing period of
incapacity (asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, etc.);
- A period of incapacity which is permanent or long-term due to a condition
for which treatment may not be effective: You or your family member must be
under the continuing supervision of, but need not be receiving active treatment
by, a health care provider. Examples include Alzheimer's, severe stroke, or the
terminal stages of a disease;
- Multiple treatments for non-chronic conditions: Any period of absence to
receive multiple treatments (including any period of recovery there from) by a
health care provider or by a provider of health care services under orders of,
or on referral by, a health care provider, either for restorative surgery after
an accident or other injury, or for a condition such as cancer, severe
arthritis, or kidney disease that would likely result in a period of incapacity
of more than three consecutive calendar days in the absence of medical
intervention or treatment;
- Continuing supervision of, but not necessarily active treatment by, a
health care provider because of a serious long-term or chronic condition or
disability which cannot be cured.
NOTE: The FMLA allows leave for substance abuse in order to undergo treatment
by a health care provider and specifically excludes employee absence because of
the use of the substance. Stress qualifies as a serious health condition only if
it rises to the level of a mental illness or results in a physical illness.
Period of incapacity means a period of time when an employee or family member
is unable to work, attend school, or perform other regular daily activities
because of a serious health condition, treatment therefor, or recovery
therefrom.
Treatment, for purposes of FMLA, includes examinations to determine if a
serious health condition exists and evaluations of the condition, but does not
include routine physical examinations, eye examinations, or dental examinations.
Health care provider is defined as a doctor of medicine or osteopathy who is
authorized to practice medicine or surgery by the state in which the doctor
practices; or any other person determined by the United States Department of
Labor to be capable of providing health care services. Included in the second
part of that definition are podiatrists, dentists, clinical psychologists,
clinical social workers, optometrists, and chiropractors (limited to treatment
consisting of manual manipulation of the spine to correct a subluxation as
demonstrated to exist by x-ray), nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives, and
Christian Science practitioners.
Spouse is defined in accordance with applicable state law. Unmarried domestic
partners do not qualify for FMLA leave to care for their partner.
Parent means the biological parent of an employee, or an individual who
stands or who stood in loco parentis to an employee, when the employee was a son
or daughter. It does not include parents-in-law.
Son or daughter means a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a
legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco parentis, who is under
eighteen years of age or who is eighteen years of age or older and incapable of
self-care because of mental or physical disability.