How to Apply for FMLA Leave

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is an important benefit for workers in Citrus County. This federal law, first enacted in 1993, allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave each year for a personal or family situation such as a medical issue or childbirth. When it comes to taking FMLA leave, both the employer and the employee have roles to play. Below we discuss FMLA in general, including what FMLA is and who is eligible for this leave, before delving into the process for applying for FMLA leave.

If you believe you have been improperly denied FMLA leave or retaliated against at work for requesting leave, contact James P. Tarquin, P.A., in Ocala to speak with a skilled and knowledgeable Marion County FMLA attorney.

What Does FMLA Provide?

The FMLA provides eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave in the following circumstances:

• For the birth of a child and to care for the newborn. Leave must be taken within one year of birth.
• For the placement of a child with the employee for foster care or adoption and to care for the newly placed child. Leave must be taken within one year of placement.
• To care for a spouse, child, or parent of the employee with a serious health condition.
• If the employee has a serious health condition that makes them unable to perform the essential functions of their job.
• If the employee’s spouse, parent or child is a covered military servicemember on covered active duty when a qualifying exigency arises.
• To care for a covered servicemember in the employee’s immediate family or next of kin with a serious injury or illness (26 weeks of leave allowed).

Terms like “serious health condition,” “covered active duty,” and “qualifying exigency” have specific meanings that are defined in the law. An employee on FMLA leave can continue participating in group health insurance coverage on the same terms and conditions as if they weren’t on leave. The leave is “job-protect,” meaning employees have a right to return to the same or a substantially similar job with no loss in pay or benefits. Special rules apply to teachers regarding taking leave and returning to work during the school year.

Who Is Eligible for FMLA Leave?

To be eligible for FMLA leave, you must work for a covered employer and have worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before the leave begins. You must also be employed at a worksite that has 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius and have worked for that employer for at least 12 months (not necessarily consecutively).

Covered employers include public agencies, such as local, state, and federal government employers, as well as school districts. Private employers are covered if they employ 50 or more employees for at least 20 workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year. This includes joint employers and the successors of covered employers.

How to Apply for FMLA Leave

The first step in applying for FMLA leave is to notify your employer that you need leave. Your employer then has five business days to notify you if you are eligible to take FMLA leave. If eligible, your employer must also give you a copy of your rights and responsibilities under the FMLA. If they require medical certification, they must notify you of this requirement as well.

If required, obtain certification from a healthcare professional or other appropriate party that the leave is needed.

After certification or if certification was not required, your employer then has five business days to notify you whether your leave has been designated as FMLA leave or not.

If your leave was designated as FMLA-protected, then you have a right to return to your old job or a nearly identical job when you come back to work after the leave.

Get Help With FMLA Employment Issues in Central Florida

If you do not qualify for FMLA because you are not an eligible employee or your boss is not a covered employer, keep in mind that these factors may change over time. Just because you were turned down for leave in the past does not prevent you from requesting FMLA leave again in the future.

If, on the other hand, your FMLA rights were interfered with or if you suffered retaliation for requesting or taking protected leave, the FMLA rights attorneys at James P. Tarquin, P.A., can help. Based in Ocala, our employee rights law firm represents workers in Citrus and Marion County and throughout Central Florida. Call 352-401-7671 or contact us online for a free consultation to determine if your rights were violated and find out how we can help.