Human Resource Services

Family Medical and Leave Act (FMLA)


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FMLA Entitlement

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is federal legislation enacted to provide job protection for up to 12 weeks an entitlement year to an employee, or for an employee to care for his or her parent, spouse, or child who has a serious health condition determined to be FMLA-qualifying by the patient’s physician, or when a employee must be absent due to becoming a parent. Employers must approve leave for events that qualify under the FMLA. Employees hired into leave-accruing positions are eligible for FMLA leave upon hire at the University of Florida. Employees on FMLA-qualifying leave shall be given the option to choose the type of leave they want to use for all absences that are designated as FMLA.

Twelve weeks of entitlement translates to 12 weeks of an employee’s regular schedule. The maximum entitlement for FMLA leave is 480 hours in the FMLA year for a full-time employee. The entitlement is prorated based on FTE, so an employee at .50 FTE would have a maximum entitlement of 240 hours in the FMLA entitlement year, which is from July 1 through June 30.

OPS employees (Staff, Academic Personnel and Graduate Assistants) who have been employed by the University of Florida at least 12 months (need not have been consecutive), and have worked a minimum of 1,250 hours during the 12 months immediately preceding the requested leave, are eligible for a total entitlement (not per event) of up to 12 workweeks of leave without pay in a fiscal year for events determined to be FMLA-qualifying.

At the University of Florida, the leave benefits to which employees have access are frequently more generous than those provided by the FMLA. As a result, when granting appropriate leave in keeping with university policy, departments will likely meet the requirements of the FMLA as a matter of course.

Upon return from an extended leave, including FMLA leave, an employee will be returned to the same position or a position in the same classification unless he or she and the university have agreed in writing otherwise. Supervisors may request certification of return to fitness upon return. FMLA leave will not affect the benefits normally accrued by employees during a leave with or without pay, as appropriate.

Definitions of Immediate Family

For purposes of sick leave use and family medical leave including parental leave, the university's definition for "immediate family" is defined as an employee's spouse, domestic partner, great-grandparent, grandparent, parent, brother, sister, child, grandchild, or great-grandchild, or the grandparent, parent, brother, sister, child, grandchild, or great-grandchild of the employee's spouse or domestic partner, or the spouse or domestic partner of any of them. This also includes individuals for whom the employee is current legal guardian.

Federal (FMLA) Definition of Family
Under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the definition of family is the employee's parent, spouse, or child.

While use of sick leave and extended medical leaves of absence are available for employees with family members who meet the University's definition of immediate family, those absences will not be designated as qualifying under the FMLA unless the employee's family member also meets the federal definition.

Designating Leave as FMLA-Qualifying

It is very important that extended leave-of-absence forms designate whether an absence is FMLA-qualifying. For absences of 15 workdays or fewer, the employee in conjunction with his or her supervisor, designates whether the absence is FMLA-qualifying. If there is any question, the employee should request that his or her health care provider complete the certification of health care provider form, and the physician should determine if the condition is FMLA-qualifying.

For medical absences of more than 15 workdays (an extended leave of absence) the certification of health care provider form is completed, and the physician determines if the condition is FMLA-qualifying. The supervisor's signature on leave forms denotes that he or she has reviewed the FMLA designation and is in agreement that the designation is correct.

Myth versus Fact about FMLA-Qualifying Events

Myth
After an employee has exhausted all paid leave benefits for a qualifying event, the employee can then use up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave designated as FMLA-qualifying.

Fact
The FMLA provides for unpaid leave only; it does not provide any additional paid leave benefits. UF policy allows an employee the option of using accrued paid leave balances while on FMLA-qualifying leave. Please note any leave used, paid or unpaid, for an FMLA-qualifying event must be designated as such and counted against an employee’s entitlement, with the exception of overtime compensatory leave. An employee may use it while on FMLA-qualifying leave, but it cannot be designated as FMLA-qualifying under federal law.

Myth
FMLA-qualifying leave can only be used for parental leave, or only for a family member with a serious health condition.

Fact
FMLA-qualifying events include: when an employee becomes a biological parent; when a child is placed in an employee’s home after adoption or for foster-care purposes; when an employee needs to care for a parent, spouse, or child with a serious health condition; and when the employee has a serious health condition.

Only “serious health conditions” are covered by the FMLA. There are six ways to define a serious health condition:

  1. The condition requires inpatient care.
  2. If the employee or family member was incapacitated and absent from work or other activities for more than three calendar days and there was “continuing treatment” by a “health care provider” or some other regimen of continuing treatment.
  3. Any period of incapacity due to pregnancy or any treatment for prenatal care, regardless of whether there is incapacity.
  4. The condition is one that is subject to continuing treatment for a chronic or long-term condition that causes periodic visits for treatment, continues over an extended period of time, and may cause occasional incapacity.
  5. The condition is a permanent long-term chronic condition that leads to incapacity even though no treatment is likely to be effective, but the employee or family member may be under the care of a health care provider.
  6. The condition is related to treatment after surgery or an injury or is so serious, that if not treated, would likely result in incapacity for more than three days.

An employee seeking to have an event or illness classified as FMLA-qualifying must have his or her physician complete a certification of health care provider form if the absence is more than 15 consecutive workdays, with the exceptions of parental leave or leave associated with an approved workers’ compensation injury or illness, which should be designated as FMLA-qualifying without requiring medical certification. UF personnel--payroll processors, supervisors, etc.--cannot directly contact the employee’s health care provider regarding certification forms. This includes faxing or mailing forms to physicians’ offices on behalf of employees. Please note: Certification forms, like all medical documentation, are highly confidential.

Intermittent leave or reduced-schedule leave must be provided when medically necessary. Any intermittent leave or reduced schedule leave in connection with adoption, foster care or parental leave following the birth of a child may be used with supervisory approval. Please note that while an employee is working a reduced work schedule or using intermittent leave, the number of hours the employee isn’t working should be counted against the employee’s entitlement.

Myth
The FMLA only relates to extended leaves of absence.

Fact
An employee’s supervisor is responsible for proper designation. If a USPS or TEAMS employee’s qualifying absence will last more than 15 workdays, his or her departmental payroll/leave administrator must submit the extended leave of absence form and the certification of health care provider form to Central Leave Administration, while faculty members must submit a written request to the Dean/Department Chair/Designatee of the College for approval. On the request, the following information must be provided:

  • Purpose of the absence (medical, parental, military leave, etc)
  • Duration of absence
  • Leave Usage during absence
  • Tenure tracking

Medical certifications for Academic Personnel are kept at the department; however, they may be forwarded to Central Leave Administration for retention.

 

Changing FMLA Designations on Leave Already Entered
Leave that has been entered as not qualifying under the FMLA but later determined to be qualifying may be "backed out" and reentered as FMLA-qualifying with the review and approval of the appropriate Human Resources satellite office. Supervisors or administrators must be able to present documentation that supports the change in designation, and an explanation of the reason why the leave was originally entered as not qualifying under the FMLA.

Entry errors with the incorrect designation may be corrected after review by the appropriate Human Resources satellite office.

Serious Health Condition
To be eligible for an extended leave for medical reasons (self or family), an employee must provide documentation from the appropriate health care provider that a serious health condition exists. (In the event a serious health condition does not exist, a department at its discretion still may grant a medical leave, in which case the leave would not be FMLA-qualifying.) A serious health condition means an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves one or more of the following:

  1. Inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility, including any period of incapacity or any subsequent treatment in connection with or consequent to such inpatient care.
  2. Continuing treatment by a health care provider, which includes any one or more of the following:
  1. Any period of incapacity due to pregnancy or for prenatal care.
  2. Any period of incapacity or treatment for such incapacity due to a chronic serious health condition (for example, asthma, diabetes, epilepsy).
  3. A period of incapacity which is permanent or long-term due to a condition for which treatment may not be effective (for example, Alzheimer's, a severe stroke, the terminal stages of disease).
  4. Any period of absence to receive multiple treatments either for restorative surgery after an accident or other injury or for a condition that would likely result in a period of incapacity of more than three consecutive calendar days in the absence of medical intervention or treatment (for example, severe compound bone fracture, a severe concussion).

Family Member With a Serious Health Condition
Under the provisions of the FMLA and university policy, an employee may care for a family member (his or her parent, spouse, or child, if FMLA-qualifying or “immediate family” under university policy) with a serious health condition if one or both of the following apply:

Child Over 18 With a Serious Health Condition
FMLA leave is only available to parents for children over 18 if the child is incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability. Incapable of self-care means the child must have active supervision or assistance to provide daily self-care in three or more of the following activities: