Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Leave Policy
Eligible employees may be entitled to leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for specified family and medical reasons.
Eligibility
To be eligible for FMLA benefits, an employee must have been employed by Muhlenberg College for at least twelve (12) months and have worked for at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period immediately preceding the start of the leave.
Available Leave
Eligible employees can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for the following reasons:
- For the employee’s own qualifying serious mental or physical health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the employee’s job;
- The birth of a child or placement of a child for adoption or foster care (leave must be taken within one year of the child’s birth or placement);
- To bond with a child (leave must be taken within one year of the child’s birth or placement);
- To care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a qualifying serious mental or physical health condition;
- For qualifying exigencies related to the foreign deployment of a military member who is the employee’s spouse, child, or parent.
Eligible employees can take up to 26 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for the following reason:
- To care for the employee’s spouse/child/parent military service member with a serious health condition.
For purposes of calculating the amount of FMLA leave an eligible employee may request, the term “during any twelve (12) month period” means a rolling twelve (12) month period measured backward from the date requested leave will be used.
Serious Health Condition
A serious health condition is defined as an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves:
- inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility; or
- continuing treatment by a health care provider.
A serious health condition is not intended to cover short-term conditions for which treatment and recovery are very brief, minor illnesses which last only a few days, and surgical procedures that typically do not involve hospitalization and require only a brief recovery period.
Intermittent Leave
When it is medically necessary or otherwise permitted, employees may take leave intermittently or on a reduced schedule. The employee may be required or may elect to transfer temporarily to an available alternative position for which the employee is qualified and has equivalent pay and benefits, which better accommodate recurring periods of leave than the employee’s regular position.
Employees have the right to take FMLA leave all at once or, when medically necessary, in separate blocks of time. Intermittent or reduced schedule leave is also available for military family leave reasons for bonding with a newborn or newly placed child
Benefit Continuation
Group health insurance will be maintained for the duration of an FMLA leave and at the level and under conditions coverage would have been provided if the employee remained on active status. The employee will be responsible for paying their share of the premium. While on an unpaid FMLA status, the employee will be responsible for paying this part of the premium by submitting payment directly to the Human Resources Office on or before each regular payday. Failure to pay premiums within a 30-day grace period following scheduled due dates (regular pay days) will result in termination of coverage. The College may recover its share of the premiums for maintaining coverage for the employee under such group health plan during the period of an FMLA leave if the employee fails to return to work (or returns but fails to stay 30 calendar days) for reasons other than the continuation or onset of a serious health condition entitling the employee to FMLA leave or other circumstances beyond the employee’s control. Certification of inability to return to work may be required.
Use of Accrued Leave
As permitted by FMLA regulations, the College requires an employee to use their available sick and short-term disability leave for FMLA absences due to their own serious health condition, prior to initiation of unpaid leave. For FMLA absences related to the needs of the employee’s family members, an employee may use their accumulated sick leave prior to initiation of unpaid leave. In no case will the combination of paid and unpaid leave used under FMLA exceed twelve (12) workweeks in any twelve (12) month period as defined herein (or 26 weeks related to the care of a military service member).
FMLA leave for the birth/care of a child or the placement of a child for adoption or foster care must be taken within the twelve (12) month period which starts on the date of such birth or placement. Regardless of when such leave begins, it will end no later than the end of the twelve (12) month period.
Notice
Generally, employees must give 30 days’ advance notice of the need for FMLA leave. If it is not possible to give 30 days’ notice due to emergency and/or unforeseen circumstances, an employee must provide Human Resources as much written notice as is practicable under the circumstances. It is important for the employee to let the Office of Human Resources know as soon as possible each time FMLA leave is needed and to respond to questions from the employer designed to determine if a particular leave request is FMLA-qualifying. If the employee fails to provide the employer with enough information to determine whether the leave is FMLA-qualifying, the leave may not be protected. When the employee has no reasonable excuse for not providing at least 30 days advance notice, the College may delay the FMLA leave until 30 days after the date notice is provided. When the employee could not have provided 30 days advance notice, but has no reasonable excuse for not providing a shorter period of advance notice, the College may delay the FMLA leave by whatever amount of time that the employee delayed in notifying the employer.
Service Member Leave
An eligible employee may take an unpaid military caregiver leave in order to care for a service member or recent veteran* who is the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next-of-kin. Leave is available for up to 26 weeks in a 12-month time period. The service member must be undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, therapy, in outpatient status, or on the temporary disability retired list for a serious injury or illness which was either incurred during active duty or was aggravated by service on active duty in the Armed Forces (including the National Guard or Reserves.)
*A veteran of the Armed Forces (including the National Guard or Reserves) must have been discharged within the five-year period before the family member first takes military caregiver leave to care for the veteran and must be undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy for a qualifying serious injury or illness. In the case of a recent veteran, the veteran’s discharge must have been other than dishonorable.
Return to Work Updates
An employee on an approved leave under this policy must inform the Office of Human Resources every thirty (30) days regarding their status and intent to return to work upon conclusion of the leave. An employee will be required to submit a fitness-for-duty/return-to-work certification from their treating healthcare provider before returning to work.
Reinstatement
Unless one of the exceptions in the law applies, upon return from FMLA, most employees must be restored to the same job or one nearly identical to it with equivalent pay, benefits, and other employment terms and conditions.
Disclaimer: The provisions of this policy are intended to comply with the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, and any terms used from the FMLA will be as defined in the Act or the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) regulations. To the extent that this policy is ambiguous or contradicts the Act or DOL regulations, the language of the Act or regulations will prevail.
