ELIGIBILITY

In order to be eligible for leave under the FMLA, an employee must have been employed by the County for 12-months (previous employment included), AND must have worked at least 1,250 hours within the preceding 12-months.  Eligible employees that have met these requirements may take up to 12-weeks of leave for a qualifying event.
 

QUALIFYING EVENT

These are the primary categories of qualifying absences under the FMLA:

• Employee’s own serious health condition
• Care for covered family member’s serious health condition
• Certain situations relating to service in the armed forces
• Birth and care of a newborn
• Adoption or foster care

PROCESS FOR FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE (FML) DESIGNATION

The FML process begins when an employee has a need for leave. It’s important to inform the person responsible for assessing whether the situation is a potentially FML qualifying event. This person is usually a supervisor or the departmental/office payroll representative. The following information should be provided to Human Resources:

• Employee name
• Anticipate start and end date
• Frequency: continuous or intermittent
• Reason for leave: Employee’s own health, family member’s health (spouse, parent or child), military, birth, foster or adoption

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Human Resources completes a Notice of Eligibility and Right & Responsibilities form to inform the employee whether they are eligible or not to take leave under the FMLA. If the employee is eligible for leave under the FMLA, Human Resources will provide an FMLA Medical Certification form to the employee to have completed by their healthcare provider (HCP).  The employee is responsible for getting the completed FMLA Medical Certification returned to Human Resources by the required deadline.  Human Resources will then review the completed FMLA Medical Certification form to determine if the leave is qualifying or not, or if additional information is needed to make that determination.

The decision to approve or not approve the leave or request additional information is communicated to the employee, their supervisor and payroll representative using the Designation Notice form.  For approved leave designations, the employee is responsible for tracking his or her leave time accurately and providing Human Resources with any necessary follow-up information, such as a return to work note or, if applicable, a fitness for duty certification.