Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
General Information
Definition
The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law passed in 1993 that provides eligible employees up to 12 weeks of leave each calendar year for events of:
- the employee’s own serious health condition;
- the birth and first year care of the employee’s child;
- the adoption or foster placement of a child in the employee’s home;
- the care of a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition; and
- exigency leave for family members who are service members of the Armed Forces who have orders of deployment or are deployed (FMLA Military Leave information).
- leave for family members who are service members of the Armed Forces who have been injured during active duty (FMLA Military Leave information).
Eligibility
Eligibility is two pronged:
- To be eligible for FMLA leave, the employee must have worked for The University of Iowa for an aggregate total of twelve months within the most recent seven years. The twelve months does not have to be continuous employment.
- The employee must also have worked at least 1250 actual hours in the immediate preceding twelve months prior to the absence (approximately seven and one-half months of full time work).
Leave Event
- Birth, adoption or foster placement of a child in the employee's home: prenatal care and/or pregnancy related concerns, pre-adoption and pre-foster placement activities. Leave is also granted for bonding purposes for either parent or both within the twelve month period after the birth, adoption or foster placement. The twelve weeks available for bonding purposes are not additional leave but are drawn from the parent(s) calendar year twelve week FMLA allowance. When both parents are employed by the University, FMLA leave for a birth or placement of a child is twelve weeks for the two employees combined. (Parental Leave information)
- Care of a child, spouse or parent with a serious/chronic health condition. Care may include assisting a family member in the provision of financial care, physical care due to the nature of the medical condition, or simply comforting the ill family member.
- The employee's own serious/chronic illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition.
- See FMLA Military Leave information
Definition: Serious Health condition
“Serious health condition” means an absence (incapacity) for illness, injury impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves-inpatient care, more than three day absence plus treatment, pregnancy, treated chronic conditions, supervised long term conditions, or multiple treatments.
Family Member
The Act recognizes the following family relationships as qualifying under the FMLA:
- Son or daughter: a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing "in loco parentis" who is under the age of 18, or age 18 or older and deemed "incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability." The Military Leave provision is exempt from the age of majority requirement.
- Spouse: a husband or wife as defined or recognized under Iowa law for purposes of marriage including common law marriage as recognized by the State of Iowa. The University also recognizes domestic partnerships registered with UI Benefits.
- Parent: a biological parent or an individual who stood "in loco parentis" to an employee when he/she was a dependent.
Protections
During FMLA leave the employee’s health insurance benefits are maintained and the University maintains its regular contribution to health insurance coverage when the employee is in either paid or unpaid status. On return from FMLA leave the employee returns to the same or an equivalent position and the same benefits for which s/he is eligible prior to the leave. Employees will not be reinstated if the term of the previously held position expired or if there had been a lay off due to a reduction in force or reorganization during the period of absence. However, employees maintain the same rights with respect to such actions, absent the leave.
Designation
The law requires the University to treat all qualifying absences as FMLA leave and provide the employee with written notice of the employee's eligibility for FMLA and designation of approved leave as FMLA.
Taking FMLA Leave
Some absences for a personal health condition require an employee provide the employer a Department of Labor Health Certification completed by the treating health care provider. Other absence for personal health and/or family needs can be addressed directly with the employee and authorized using the above Designation form. FMLA leave may be taken as a continuous period of time, i.e., several weeks or in small increments, i.e., minutes or hours up to the maximum 12 weeks (480 absent hours, prorated to employee’s FTE) per calendar year. Leave may also be structured as a reduced day or week schedule.
- Employees are expected to notify employers of need for leave at least 30 days in advance when leave is foreseeable and provide reasonable notice in accordance with policy, practice and/or bargaining agreements for all other leaves.
- Scheduled absences are to be arranged with departments to be as minimally intrusive as possible on work scheduling and needs.
- Employees are to communicate absence needs and questions with their supervisor and/or their Unit Human Resource staff, as applicable. Senior Human Resource staff are also available as resources to employees.
- Complex situations and related questions are directed by the Unit HR staff to Faculty and Staff Disability Services, 121-20 USB, 335-2660 or fsds@iowa.edu.
Paid vs. Unpaid Leave
Employee wages during FMLA covered absences are provided according to University policy and collective bargaining agreement requirements. Employees eligible for FMLA will use applicable University leave benefits concurrently with FMLA.
Examples:
- Their own personal serious health conditions: employees draw from their sick leave and if exhausted, vacation hours prior to using unpaid leave.
- Birth mother during prenatal and pregnancy related absence: employees draw from their sick leave followed by vacation hours prior to using unpaid leave. Following birth, birth mothers use six weeks of sick leave and if exhausted, vacation hours prior to using unpaid leave.
- Spouses and registered domestic partners use Family Caregiving Leave drawn from their sick leave and if exhausted, vacation hours prior to using unpaid leave.
- Employees (male or female) on adoption of a child use five days adoption leave (drawn from sick leave) at the time of the adoption.
- Employees (male or female) use vacation followed by unpaid leave for adoption and foster care pre-placement related absence.
- Employee's use up to 40 hours (in accordance with employee’s FTE percent) Family Caregiving Leave (drawn from sick leave) to provide care and necessary attention to an ill/injured family member’s serious health condition. On exhaustion of Family Caregiving Leave employees use vacation hours prior to using unpaid leave.
- Military Exigency Leave , employees draw from their vacation hours prior to using unpaid leave.
Additional State or Contract Requirements:
- The State of Iowa requires contract-covered Merit employees to use paid leave prior to unpaid leave. These employees may reserve two weeks vacation prior to using unpaid leave.
- Examples:
- Personal health: Sick leave is used for personal illness followed by vacation then unpaid leave.
- Family health: Vacation is used after exhaustion of emergency medical leave followed by unpaid leave.
- Exigency leave: Vacation is used followed by unpaid leave.
- SEIU employees must exhaust sick leave for their own condition prior to unpaid leave.
- All other faculty and staff may elect to use vacation, sick or unpaid leave for their own personal medical absence in any chronological order.
A release to work is required for hospitalizations, continuous absences of 10 days or more, and may be required for other absences. The release must be requested at the time of FMLA Designation. The completed release document is to be received up to two days prior to return to work.