What Is the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and How Do I Apply for Its Protections?

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides eligible employees with unpaid, job-protected leave for up to 12 weeks per year. Employees can take FMLA leave because of illness, to care for a new baby or child, or to care for a sick dependent. While you are on temporary leave, your employer-sponsored health insurance coverage will continue. Once you return, FMLA guarantees you will have the same, or an equivalent, job.  

Below, we tackle common questions about FMLA, a federal law that passed in 1993.

Who is eligible to take FMLA leave? 

To be eligible to take FMLA leave, you must work for a covered employer. Covered employers include all public agencies and private-sector employers that have employed 50 or more workers for at least 20 workweeks. In addition, you must have worked for the employer for 12 months. These 12 months don’t necessarily have to follow each other.

For example, seasonal work that accumulates over time would count toward the 12-month requirement. However, if you stop working for your given employer for more than 7 years, the time you worked before that wouldn’t count. Within that 12 months, you must have worked at least 1,250 hours — or about 26 hours per week, if the months are consecutive. 

Independent contractors aren’t eligible to take FMLA leave.

What health conditions qualify for FMLA leave? 

If you meet all of the above requirements, then you are an eligible employee. All eligible employees can qualify for FMLA leave for the following reasons: 

• To care for a newborn child within one year of birth.

• To care for an adopted child or foster child within one year of placement.

• To care for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition.

• To care for the employee’s own serious health condition.

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The Family and Medical Leave Act defines a serious health condition as an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that must involve either inpatient care or continuing treatment from a healthcare provider. This definition is left open to ensure that any illness that would inhibit you from working for more than a few days is protected.

According to the Department of Labor, some of the most common serious health conditions that qualify are: 

• Conditions that require an overnight stay in a medical facility 

• Conditions that incapacitate you for more than 3 days and need ongoing treatment 

• Chronic conditions that involve periods of incapacitation and need treatment at least twice a year 

• Pregnancy 

If any of these apply to you, you can potentially take time off work without worrying about your job security or health insurance coverage. 

What about military family leave? 

If you need to take time off to care for a sick or injured relative who is an active service member or veteran, you can take up to 26 weeks in a 12-month period. The service member or veteran must be either your:

• Spouse

• Child 

• Parent

• Next of kin 

You may also be eligible to take leave if your spouse, child, or parent is deployed to a foreign country for active duty. In this situation, you would be eligible for up to 12 weeks of leave to prepare for your family member's departure. For more details on military family leave under the FMLA, you can read the Employee’s Guide to Military Family Leave from the Department of Labor.   

What protections does FMLA provide? 

FMLA allows you to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period and more than twice that amount (26 weeks over 12 months) if you’re a military caregiver. If your employer provides group health benefits to you, it must maintain them during your time off. If your family members are also on your employer’s health plan, that coverage must continue as well. 

In addition, you are guaranteed the same, or a comparable, job when you return. The job must be equivalent in terms of: 

• Salary 

• Benefits 

• Working conditions — including shift and location

Can I get paid while on FMLA leave? 

FMLA provides unpaid leave, but it is possible to substitute paid leave while also receiving FMLA protections. If you have accrued paid leave at your job, you are allowed to substitute this for unpaid FMLA leave. So, you can receive FMLA protections — continuation of health coverage and job protection upon return — as well as paid time off at the same time. You may use accrued paid time off to cover all of your FMLA leave or just some. If you do choose to substitute paid leave, you must follow your employer’s regular policies for requesting paid leave. 

How do you apply for FMLA protections? 

To apply for FMLA protections, you should give your employer 30 days advance notice, if possible. If you get sick or experience any qualifying condition unexpectedly, you must let your employer know as soon as possible. You are also required to follow your employer’s normal policy for requesting time off. Typically, you would go to the human resources department with your request, but, if your company doesn’t have one, you can go directly to your supervisor. 

If you are asking for FMLA leave for the first time, you do not have to explicitly request it. Employees are not expected to know the various state and federal leave laws, so employers are trained to initiate FMLA discussions when employees ask for time off with relevant reasons.

“While it can be helpful if an employee asked for FMLA directly, employers do not need those specific words to start the process,” Yvette Lee, human resources knowledge advisor at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), a trade organization in Alexandria, Virginia, explained in an email.

“Employers should know that if an employee is asking for time away from work either intermittently or continuously FMLA is typically the first item covered,” she said.  

So, to apply for FMLA, you have to communicate with your employer that you need time off and provide your reason. Then, the HR department, or your supervisor, should start walking you through FMLA. 

Here are some more tips from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) on the best way to ask for FMLA leave: 

• Read through the leave of absence policies in the employee handbook. 

• Understand that there are criteria that employees need to meet to be eligible for FMLA leave.

• Provide notice as soon as possible. Don’t wait until the last minute to ask for a leave of absence, especially if you know in advance.

• You will need to provide your employer enough information so they can make an educated determination. You don’t have to provide a specific diagnosis, but there needs to be an understanding as to why leave is needed.

Do you need to provide a medical certification for FMLA leave?

SHRM recommends that you be ready to provide a medical certificate when you ask for FMLA leave so that you don’t hinder the process in any way.

You don’t necessarily need to proactively provide a medical certification when requesting time off, but your employer has the right to ask you for one. They may request a certificate signed by a health professional that establishes you have a serious health condition. Your employer can require a second or third medical opinion, but they would have to pay for that service.

If you are taking FMLA leave for an ongoing health issue, your employer has the right to ask for a recertification no more often than every 30 days. If you already established that your health condition will last longer than 30 days, then your employer must wait whatever that specified duration is until they may request a recertification. 

How can you ensure a smooth return to work following FMLA leave?

It is helpful to keep an open line of communication with your employer when taking FMLA leave to ensure a smooth return. If you took FMLA leave for your own serious health condition, then your employer may ask for a fitness-for-duty certification when you return. Requesting a fitness-for-duty certification must be your employer’s uniformly applied policy for anyone who took FMLA leave. The certification also must only be in regard to the serious health condition that you took FMLA for. 

Resources and support for FMLA leave

If you have any questions about FMLA or need legal help, you can contact the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) toll-free information and helpline at 1-866-4-USWAGE (1-866-487-9243). You can also visit the Wage and Hour Division website for more information. 

The Department of Labor is responsible for enforcing the FMLA provisions. It is unlawful for your employer to interfere in any way with FMLA protections or to discriminate against you for requesting FMLA leave. 

If you believe your rights under FMLA have been violated, you can:

• Call the helpline (1-866-487-9243), and DOL workers will direct you to the nearest local office. 

• Visit the DOL website for information on how to find the nearest office and file a complaint. 

• If you are unsure about filing a complaint but want more information, you can also contact the Wage and Hour Division through email using this online form.

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Written by:

Anna Wells

Anna researches and writes data-driven reports on health trends, health policy, and health equity. She also tracks and analyses legislation, hearings, and policy developments in the healthcare space, and communicates research findings to policy stakeholders in D.C.

Edited by:

Kristen Gerencher, MSOT

Kristen Gerencher is an award-winning writer who has reported on healthcare, medicine, and insurance for a variety of national publications. Before contributing to GoodRx, she was a healthcare and personal finance reporter for MarketWatch.

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