FMLA INFORMATION:

The Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) was established to allow employees to balance work and family life by taking reasonable unpaid leave for certain family and medical reasons.

It provides certain employees with up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job protected leave a year, and requires group health benefits to be maintained during the leave as if employees continued to work instead of taking leave.

Employee Eligibility:

In order for an employee to be eligible for FMLA leave:

  • an employee must work for Noblesville Schools for at least 12 months prior to the start of the FMLA leave. Prior employment with Noblesville Schools can be used toward this count
  • an employee must have worked at least 1250 hours during the 12 months prior to the start of the FMLA leave

What is a circumstance that may qualify an employee for FMLAleave?

  • birth of a child and to bond with the newborn child within one year of birth
  • The placement with the employee of child for adoption or foster care and to bond with the newly placed child within one year of placement
  • A serious health condition (see below) that makes the employee unable to perform the functions of his or her job, including incapacity due to pregnancy and for prenatal medical care
  • To care for the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent who has a serious health condition, including incapacity due to pregnancy and for prenatal medical care
  • Any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a military member on covered active duty or call to covered active duty status

What is a Serious Health Condition?

  • Inpatient care
  • a period of incapacity of more than three consecutive full calendar days(example: Friday-Monday if treatment given), and subsequent treatment or period of incapacity relating to the same condition
  • pregnancy
  • chronic conditions
  • permanent or long-term conditions
  • conditions with multiple treatments

If you need to utilize FMLA, what are your responsibilities?

Notify the Noblesville Schools Human Resources Department (phone, email, through a supervisor, via a family member)

If your leave is foreseeable, you should give at least 30 days advance notice of the need to take FMLA leave.

If this advance notice is not possible, the leave should be reported as soon as possible. HR will need enough information to send the Notification and Medical Certification to designate the leave as FMLA. If there is not enough time to report the leave before you return, you must make contact with HR within two days of your return from your leave to request it be designated as FMLA.

You will be provided with a Notice of Eligibility and Rights and Responsibilities once the leave has been reported. It will either state you are eligible or not eligible. If eligible, you will also be given a Medical Certification. This Certification will need to be given to your/your family member’s physician to fill out to support the reason you are needing to take the leave. You are given 15 calendar days to return the Medical Certification.

Once Noblesville Schools receives the completed Medical Certification form, a Designation Notice will be sent to you granting or denying the leave.

Attached is the current FMLA poster summarizing the EMPLOYEES RIGHTS Under the Family and Medical Leave Act. In addition, attached is The Employee’s Guide to the Family and Medical Leave Act.

If you have any questions regarding FMLA, please contact Kim Boston 317-773-3171 x 10204.