The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year for qualifying family and medical reasons. Qualifying reasons include the birth or adoption of a child, caring for a family member with a serious health condition, or the employee's own serious health condition. The FMLA also provides for military family leave. Employers must maintain employees' health benefits during FMLA leave and restore them to their previous or equivalent job upon return.

2. What are You entitled to Under the Family Medical Leave Act ?
• Employees may take FMLA leave:
– For the birth or placement of a child for adoption or foster care
– To care for a spouse, son, daughter, or parent with a serious health
condition
– For their own serious health condition
– Military Family Leave
• Because of a qualifying reason arising out of the active duty status of a military
member who is the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent
• To care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness when the
employee is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of the covered
service member

3. • Parent - A biological, adoptive, step or foster father or mother, or
someone who stood in loco parentis to the employee when the employee
was a son or daughter. Parent for FMLA purposes does not include in-
laws.
• 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 and same-sex marriage.
• Son or Daughter - For leave other than military family leave, a
biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a
person standing in loco parentis who is either under 18 years of age, or 18
or older and incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical
disability.
Qualifying Family Members

4. Eligible employees may take up to 12 work weeks per year of FMLA
leave:
• for the birth or placement of a child for adoption or foster care;
• to care for a spouse, son, daughter, or parent with a serious
health condition; and
• for the employee’s own serious health condition.
Amount of Leave for Medical Reasons

5. • ORCSD uses a “rolling” 12-month period
measured backward
• 12-month period measured backward from the date
an employee uses any FMLA leave.
• Under the ‘‘rolling’’ 12-month period, each time an
employee takes FMLA leave, the remaining leave
entitlement would be the balance of the 12 weeks
which has not been used during the immediately
preceding 12 months.
How is a Year Determine?

6. Example 1: Michael requests three weeks of FMLA leave to
begin on July 31st. The district looks back 12 months (from July
31st back to the previous August 1st) to see if any FMLA leave
had been used. Michael had not taken any previous FMLA
leave, so he is entitled to the three weeks he requested and
has nine more weeks available

7. Example 2: Patricia requests two weeks of FMLA leave to begin
on November 1st. The district looks back 12 months (from
November 1st back to the previous November 2nd) and sees that
Patricia had taken four weeks of FMLA leave beginning January
1st, four weeks beginning March 1st, and three weeks beginning
June 1st. Patricia has taken 11 weeks of FMLA leave in the 12-
month period and only has one week of FMLA-protected leave
available. After Patricia takes the one week in November, she
can next take FMLA leave beginning January 1st as the days of
her previous January leave “roll off” the leave year.

8. The FMLA military family leave provisions include:
• Qualifying exigency leave, which provides up to 12
workweeks of FMLA leave to help families manage their
affairs when a military member has been deployed to a
foreign country; and
• Military caregiver leave, which provides up to 26
workweeks of FMLA leave to help families care for
covered servicemembers with a serious injury or illness

9. District provided paid sick leave runs
concurrently with unpaid FMLA leave.

10. • Maintain group health plan benefits throughout the
leave period
• Provide this coverage with the same terms and
conditions as if employee were continuously employed
(this includes district contribution)
Under the FMLA the District Must

11. • Employee must pay his/her share of the premium
• Even if employee chooses not to retain coverage during
leave, employer obligated to restore same coverage
upon reinstatement

12. Under the FMLA the Employee is Guaranteed the
Following When Returning After Leave
• Same or equivalent job
 equivalent pay
 equivalent benefits
 equivalent terms and conditions