Know who qualifies as family under FMLA

Q           We have an employee who took four days off to tend to his daughter in the hospital after she received a C-section and another who wants to take three weeks off to assist her sibling going through chemotherapy. Would the absences in both scenarios fall under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)?

It’s essential to understand the FMLA to ensure compliance with both state and federal regulations. The FMLA is a federal law that allows employees to take unpaid leave for certain personal and family health-related reasons, while also maintaining job security and health insurance coverage.

Under Wisconsin’s state equivalent law, employees are eligible for two weeks of unpaid leave for their own serious health condition. They qualify for two weeks of unpaid leave for a family member’s serious health condition and six weeks of unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child. To qualify for Wisconsin’s FMLA, an employee must have worked for the same employer for more than 52 consecutive weeks and for at least 1,000 hours in that 52-week period.

If an employee is eligible under the federal FMLA, they qualify for 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Their federal FMLA eligibility also extends to their own or their family member’s serious health conditions and for the birth or adoption of a child. If an employee meets the requirements for leave under both state and federal law, the leave should run concurrently.