FMLA provides leave for parents to care for a young child.
Employees needing time off to care for a newborn, ill family member or their own serious health condition may submit a request to their employers under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), passed in 1993 by the U.S. Congress, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Washington's version of FMLA was passed in 2006 and is known as the Washington Family Leave Act (FLA). Additional benefits are provided to pregnant women and domestic partners under FLA.
Employer Qualifications
Washington's FLA requires employers with 50 or more employees within 75 miles of the workplace and who work at least 20 weeks per year to offer unpaid leave. Federal FMLA guidelines also require private employers with 50 or more employees to offer leave, but FMLA also encompasses all public and education agencies, such as local and state government, requiring them to offer leave regardless of the number of employees. Employers may choose to pay employees during their leave, but are not required to do so.
Employee Qualifications
To qualify for FMLA, an employee must be employed by a qualifying employer and have worked there for at least 12 months. Within the 12 months prior to leave, the employee must have worked a minimum of 1,250 hours, according to both FLA and FMLA guidelines. A final requirement for FMLA is that the employee must work within 75 miles of the workplace.
Types of Leave
Employees who qualify for FMLA are entitled to 12 weeks within a 12-month period of unpaid leave with job protection for the birth of the employee's child and subsequent care. Leave may also be taken for a newly adopted child or foster child within a year of the placement. A spouse, parent or child with a serious health condition also qualifies an employee to take leave to care for the family member. If an employee's own health condition is serious enough to affect job performance, leave may also be granted.
Military Service Members
If a call to duty or order to active duty of an employee's child or parent results in an urgent circumstance, the employee may request FMLA/FLA leave. Up to 26 weeks of leave may be granted to an employee caring for an injured or ill family member serving in the military. Additional leave may be granted by FLA that exceeds the weeks provided by FMLA.
Washington FLA Additional Coverage
Employees with a newborn child in Washington receive 12 weeks of leave through FLA in addition to the leave granted by FMLA for a pregnancy disability. Depending on when the FMLA leave begins, an employee could be granted up to 24 total weeks of leave before and after the birth of a child. Registered domestic partners may apply for leave under FLA to care for a partner, but FMLA guidelines do not allow this leave as of 2010.
Tags: employee must, family member, FMLA guidelines, health condition, leave granted
