Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

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    General Information

     

    The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave per 12-month period and requires a district to maintain group health benefits during the leave as if employees continued to work instead of taking leave. Employees are also entitled to return to their same or an equivalent position at the end of their FMLA leave.

     

    FMLA also provides certain military family leave entitlements. Eligible employees may take FMLA leave for specified reasons related to certain military deployments of their family members.  Additionally, they may take up to 26 weeks of FMLA leave in a single 12-month period to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness.

     

     

    Frequently Asked Questions

     

    Q: Who can use FMLA Leave?

     

    A: To take FMLA leave, first you must first work for Katy ISD for at least 12 months. It is not required to have worked for 12 months in a row, but, generally, if you have a break in service that lasted more than seven years, you cannot count the period of employment prior to the seven-year break.

                                                                                                                                

    Second, you must have worked for the District for at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before you take leave.

     

    Q: When can I use FMLA Leave?

     

    A: An eligible employee can take up to 12 workweeks of FMLA leave in any 12-month period for a variety of reasons, including:

     

    • Serious Health Condition

    You may take FMLA leave to care for your spouse, child or parent who has a serious health condition, or when you are unable to work because of your own serious health condition.

     

    The most common serious health conditions that qualify for FMLA leave are:

    1. conditions requiring an overnight stay in a hospital or other medical care facility;
    2. conditions that incapacitate you or your family member (for example, unable to work or attend school) for more than three consecutive days and require ongoing medical treatment (either multiple appointments with a health care provider, or a single appointment and follow-up care such as prescription medication);
    3. chronic conditions that cause occasional periods when you or your family member are incapacitated and require treatment by a health care provider at least twice a year; and
    4. pregnancy (including prenatal medical appointments, incapacity due to morning sickness, and medically required bed rest).

     

    • Military Family Leave

    The FMLA also provides certain military family leave entitlements. You may take FMLA leave for specified reasons related to certain military deployments. Additionally, you may take up to 26 weeks of FMLA leave in a single 12-month period to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness.

     

    • Expanding Your Family

    You may take FMLA leave for the birth of a child and to bond with the newborn child, or for the placement of a child for adoption or foster care and to bond with that child. Men and women have the same right to take FMLA leave to bond with their child, but it must be taken within one year of the child’s birth or placement and must be taken as a continuous block of leave unless the employer agrees to allow intermittent leave (for example, a part-time schedule).

     

    Definitions

     

    Parent

    Parent means a biological, adoptive, step- or foster father or mother, or any other individual who stood in loco parentis to the employee when the employee was a child. This term does not include parents-in-law.

     

    Son or Daughter

    Son or daughter (or child) means a biological, adopted, or foster child, stepchild, legal ward, or child of a person standing in loco parentis, who is either under age 18, or age 18 or older and “incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability” at the time that FMLA leave is to commence.

     

    Spouse

    Spouse means a husband or wife as defined or recognized in the state where the individual was married and includes individuals in a common law marriage or same-sex marriage.

     

    In Loco Parentis

    A person stands in loco parentis if that person provides day-to-day care or financial support for a child. Employees with no biological or legal relationship to a child can stand in loco parentis to that child, and are entitled to FMLA leave (for example, an uncle who cares for his sister’s children while she serves on active military duty, or a person who is co-parenting a child with his or her same-sex partner). Also, an eligible employee is entitled to FMLA leave to care for a person who stood in loco parentis to that employee when the employee was a child.

     

    Equivalent Position

    An equivalent position is one that is virtually identical to the employee's former position in terms of pay, benefits, and working conditions, including privileges, perquisites, and status. It must involve the same or substantially similar duties and responsibilities, which must entail substantially equivalent skill, effort, responsibility, and authority.

     

    Q:  How does the FMLA protect me?

    A: If you are faced with a health condition that causes you to miss work, whether it is because of your own serious health condition or to care for a family member with a serious health condition, you may be able to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected time off under the FMLA.

     

    If you take FMLA leave, your employer must continue your health insurance as if you were not on leave (you may be required to continue to make any normal employee contributions).

     

    If you are able to return to work before you exhaust your FMLA leave, you must be returned to the equivalent position (or one nearly identical to it). This job protection is intended to reduce the stress that you may otherwise feel if forced to choose between work and family during a serious medical situation.

     

    Time off under the FMLA may not be held against you in employment actions such as hiring, promotions or discipline.

     

    You can take FMLA leave as either a single block of time (for example, three weeks of leave for surgery and recovery) or in multiple, smaller blocks of time if medically necessary (for example, occasional absences due to diabetes). You can also take leave on a part-time basis if medically necessary (for example, if after surgery you are able to return to work only four hours a day or three days a week for a period of time). If you need multiple periods of leave for planned medical treatment such as physical therapy appointments, you must try to schedule the treatment at a time that minimizes the disruption to your employer.

     

    Q:  What if I do not qualify for FMLA?

     

    A: If you do not qualify for FMLA leave, you may qualify for up to 6 weeks of Katy ISD leave. For purposes of an employee’s entitlement to FMLA leave, the 12-month period shall be measured forward from the date an individual employee’s first FMLA leave begins.

     

    Q: Is FMLA required?

     

    A: No. Katy ISD employees are not required to request FMLA for qualifying absences. If an employee chooses not to request FMLA to protect his/her absences, he/she should submit the request for leave to his or her principal or supervisor. The effect of the employee’s absence on the educational program or department operations, as well as the availability of substitutes, will be considered by the principal or supervisor.

     

    Q: Is FMLA paid leave?

     

    A: FMLA is unpaid leave. The District requires employees to use temporary disability leave and paid leave, including any compensatory time, concurrently with FMLA leave.

     

    Q: Will all my available leave days be used?

     

    A: Yes. Board policy states the District shall require the employee to use temporary disability leave and paid leave, including compensatory time, concurrently with FMLA leave.

     

    Q: How is my pay calculated while I am on leave on the first semester?

     

    A1: Below is the formula for calculating pay when an employee goes out on leave during the first semester of school through the February 15th payroll. This determines how many paychecks the employee will receive.

     

     

    A2: Below is the formula for calculating reductions to pay for an employee returning from a leave of absence in the first semester. This reduced amount will remain in effect through the last paycheck for that contract year; for most teachers and paraprofessionals this date is August 15th.

     

     

    Q: How is my pay calculated while I am on leave on second semester?

     

    A1: Below is the formula for calculating pay when an employee goes out on leave after the February 15th payroll. This reduces the employee’s checks if not returning this school year, sometimes dramatically, but it is the only way to ensure the employee will have wages to be disbursed during the summer months.

     

     

    A2: Below is the formula for calculating pay for an employee returning from a leave of absence before the end of the second semester. The dollar amount of the final remaining paychecks will be increased based on the number of duty days the employee works before the end of the semester.

     

     

    Q: What other types of leave am I eligible for other than FMLA or Katy ISD Leave?

     

    A: An employee wishing to take discretionary personal leave should submit a request to his or her principal or supervisor by noon two workdays in advance of the anticipated absence (i.e., by noon on Wednesday if Friday is the anticipated date of absence).

     

    In deciding whether to approve or deny a request for discretionary use of personal leave, the supervisor/principal shall not seek or consider the reasons for which an employee requests to use leave.  The supervisor shall, however, consider the duration of the requested absence in conjunction with the effect of the employee’s absence on the educational program and District operations, as well as the availability of substitutes. Discretionary use of state personal leave shall be granted on a first-come, first-served basis on each campus or within each department.

     

    Q: Am I required to prove that I have a serious health condition?

     

    A: Yes. The need for leave for a serious health condition of the employee or the employee’s immediate family member must be supported by a certification issued by a health care provider.

     

    Q: What happens if I do not submit a requested medical certification?

     

    A: If an employee fails to timely submit a properly requested medical certification (absent sufficient explanation of the delay), FMLA protection for the leave may be delayed or denied. If the employee never provides a medical certification, then the leave is not FMLA leave.

     

    If an employee fails to submit a properly requested fitness-for-duty certification, the employer may delay job restoration until the employee provides the certification. If the employee never provides the certification, he or she may be denied reinstatement.

     

    Q:  Am I required to submit a fitness-for-duty certification before returning to work after being absent due to a serious health condition?

     

    A: Yes. As a condition of restoring an employee who was absent on FMLA leave due to the employee’s own serious health condition, a medical release/fitness-for-duty certification is required for the employee to return to work.

     

    The medical release to return to work should be submitted to the Leave Specialist at least five (5) working days prior to their anticipated return to work.

     

    Employees taking a leave for other than their own serious health condition (paternity leave, bonding, adoption or foster care placements and qualifying family illness) must confirm their return to work with their Leave Specialist at least five (5) working days prior to their anticipated return to work.

     

    Q: What and when do I need to tell my employer if I plan to take FMLA leave?

     

    A: Employees seeking to use FMLA leave are required to provide 30-day advance notice of the need to take FMLA leave when the need is foreseeable and such notice is practicable. If leave is foreseeable less than 30 days in advance, the employee must provide notice as soon as practicable – generally, either the same or next business day.

     

    Employees must provide sufficient information for an employer to reasonably determine whether the FMLA may apply to the leave request. Depending on the situation, such information may include that the employee is incapacitated due to pregnancy, has been hospitalized overnight, is unable to perform the functions of the job, and/or that the employee or employee’s qualifying family member is under the continuing care of a health care provider.

     

    When an employee seeks leave for an FMLA-qualifying reason for the first time, the employee need not expressly assert FMLA rights or even mention the FMLA. When an employee seeks leave, however, due to an FMLA-qualifying reason for which the employer has previously provided the employee FMLA-protected leave, the employee must specifically reference either the qualifying reason for the leave or the need for FMLA leave.

     

    Q: Who do I contact to request paperwork for FMLA or Katy ISD Leave?

     

    A: You should contact a Leave Specialist in the Human Resources department to request FMLA leave.

     

     

    LEAVE SPECIALISTS:

     

    Last Names:  A – G 

    Keren Cruz

    KerenDCruz@katyisd.org

    (281) 396-2362

     

    Last Names:  H – O

    Lorraine Ponce 

    LorraineMPonce@katyisd.org

    (281) 396-7853

     

    Last Names:  P – Z

    Alejandra Etcheverry-Gonzalez

    AlejandraSEtcheverry-Gonzalez@katyisd.org

    (281) 396-2835

     

     

    ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

     

    Katy ISD Board Policy DEC (LOCAL)

     

    Katy ISD Board Policy DEC (LEGAL)

     

    Katy ISD Board Policy DECA (LEGAL)