Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

Taking time off for health and family care

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides up to 12 weeks of absence to eligible employees for certain family and medical reasons, including:

  • Childbirth/newborn care
  • Adoption or foster care placement
  • A serious health condition for you, your spouse, dependent child, or parent (care of in-laws is not covered)
  • Military exigency
  • Care of a covered service member who has suffered serious injury or illness in the line of covered active duty
  • There are occasional circumstances which would permit an employee to use FMLA to care for an adult dependent or if acting in loco parentis

If the absence is foreseeable, you are required to give 30 days advance notice. If not foreseeable, contact your supervisor as soon as possible.

Learn the policies and procedures for FMLA

Your eligibility

To qualify for the FMLA, you must have:

  • Worked for the university in any capacity (staff, academic, temporary) for at least 12 months (does not have to be consecutive; hourly time counts toward the 12 months)
  • Worked at least 1250 actual work hours for the University in the year preceding the FMLA absence (hourly time also counts)

Paid time off (vacation, sick days, holidays, etc.) does not count as a part of the 1250 hours. All hours across all jobs an employee holds (staff, academic, temporary) count toward meeting these eligibility requirements.

Time in the military service covered under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) will count towards fulfilling the length of employment and hours of work requirements to be eligible for an FMLA leave.

Part-time staff can apply for FMLA to determine if they meet eligibility requirements.

Answers to common questions

FMLA qualifying serious health conditions include any of the following:

  • Chronic conditions (diabetes, epilepsy, asthma, etc.)
  • Multiple treatments (chemotherapy, dialysis, etc.)
  • Pregnancy & prenatal care
  • Overnight hospitalization
  • Permanent/long-term conditions (Alzheimer’s, terminal disease)
  • Incapacity of more than three calendar days plus treatment 2 times or treatment 1 time and continuing regimen

For further information regarding serious health condition qualifications, consult with your supervisor or HR representatives.

FMLA leave may be denied for any of the following reasons:

  • Does not meet eligibility requirements
  • Employee has not been employed by IU for 12 months
  • Employee has not worked 1250 actual work hours in past 12 months
  • Not a qualifying reason for FMLA
  • Calendar year allotment of FMLA (12 weeks) has been exhausted
  • Required medical certification is not provided
  • Fraudulent use of FMLA (i.e., falsification of FMLA documentation or use of FMLA to work another job without required written permission to do so)

Beginning on the first day of the leave, staff must use all time off accruals as part of the 12-week FMLA leave.

  • An employee’s compensatory time must be used prior to the use of any other time off accruals.
  • After all compensatory time is used, the employee may choose the order in which their remaining time-off accruals are expended. Time-off accruals that must be used during FMLA leave include holidays, income protection time (sick time), vacation, and PTO for professional staff.
  • The requirement that an employee must use time-off accruals to cover FMLA leave applies to any FMLA leave, including a leave that is taken either intermittently or through a reduced work schedule.
  • All time missed in a work day due to an FMLA must be charged to time-off accruals, including charges to PTO for partial day absences for professional staff.

Prior to the start of an FMLA or as soon as it is feasible to do so, the employee must decide and notify the supervisor on which time off accruals he or she wants to use after compensatory time is exhausted.

When the time-off accruals are exhausted, the remainder of the FMLA leave is without pay. This time and the time charged to accrued time-off benefits are to be recorded on the attendance record as FMLA leave.

Learn your rights

For a full explanation of your rights regarding the FMLA, visit the University Policy website, which is always up to date.