The misunderstood benefit: Family Medical Leave
By: Tim McFarling
September 21st, 2006
The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is probably the most misunderstood employee benefit. The intent of this 1993 federal law is to allow eligible employees to take job-protected leave because of the:
• birth of a child and to care for the newborn child;
• placement of a child with the employee for adoption
• employee is needed to care for a family member (parent, spouse or child)
• employee’s own serious health condition which makes the employee unable to perform the functions of his or her job.
In order for an employee to be eligible for FMLA the employee or the employee’s family member must have a serious health condition. A serious health condition is defined in federal regulation. The State of Nevada Department of Personnel has developed a guide that includes the provisions under the Nevada Administrative Code and the Nevada Revised Statutes that govern the Family Medical Leave Act for Nevada employees.
An employee is eligible if he or she has been employed for at least 12 months and has worked at least 1,250 hours in the past year. The eligible employee is entitled to take 12 weeks of leave in a year for any combinations of the reasons listed above. This leave can be taken consecutively or on an intermittent basis. The University is required to continue medical coverage for the employee during the 12 weeks of FMLA leave. The employee is required to pay their portion of the monthly premium.
If the employee has sick leave available, the sick leave will run concurrently with the FMLA leave. If sick leave is not available, any available annual leave will run concurrently with the FMLA leave. The employee must provide 30 days notice when the leave is foreseeable. If such notice is not practical, the employee must give as much notice as practical.
At the end of the leave period, the employee must be returned to the same or a comparable position.
The federal law gives the employee job protection and continuation of health benefits. The University must ensure that it fulfills its obligation to successfully administer this program. Therefore it is necessary that all the proper forms be completed for FMLA leave.
Three forms are needed to complete the FMLA process. One form is completed by the employee, one by the employee’s healthcare provider and one by the employer. These forms are available on the Human Resources Website.
Additional explanation of FMLA leave can be found here.
If you have additional questions about FMLA, please contact Nancy Kwok in the Benefits Department at (775)784-6263 or 784-6844 or nkwok@unr.edu.
Tim McFarling, director of faculty human resources, can be reached at tcm@unr.edu
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