Do you work for a covered employer?
Employers that employ 50 or more employees are covered by the FMLA, as are many state employers like schools, regardless of the number of employees.
Are you a qualified employee under the FMLA?
For an employee to qualify for FMLA leave, the employee must have worked for the employer for at least 1 year, which does not have to be continuous time and there can be breaks in employment. Also, the employee must have worked at least 1250 hours in the past 12 months.
Are you exempt from coverage?
Employees working at a worksite with less than 50 employees within a 75 mile radius are exempt from coverage, generally. There may be exeptions to this rule.
Do you have any FMLA leave available?
You can take up to 12 weeks of time--whether continuous leave or taken intermittently--under the FMLA in a 12 month period. You look back in time from the date when the proposed leave will begin to count how much FMLA leave was used. You cannot exceed the 12 weeks of time in a 12 month period without losing the protections of the FMLA. Collective bargaining and personal agreements may impact how much leave you can take and when FMLA begins for you.
Do you have an FMLA qualifying reason
To take FMLA leave, the leave must be necessary to care for a serious health condition of the employee or a family member of the employee or for the birth or adoption of a child. What is a serious health condition is an involved issue, but essentially means an illness or chronic condition that involves a hospital stay on an in-patient basis, incapacity for more than 3 days or a condition that requires repeat treatments with a doctor or certain other medical professionals. You should get medical certification of your need for this type of leave to provide to your employer. Your employer likely has a form for this purpose.
