Human Resource Services
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
FMLA Tutorial: Windows Media Player | Flash Player
The Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") 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.
FMLA POSTER pdf file
Leave Entitlement
The University will grant an eligible employee up to a total of 12 workweeks of unpaid leave in a 12 month period for one or more of the following reasons:
- For incapacity due to pregnancy, prenatal medical care, or childbirth*;
- Placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care, and to care for the employee's newly adopted* child or a child newly placed in the foster care of the employee.
- To care for the employee's family member with a serious health condition.
- The employee's serious health condition.
Employees may choose to use accrued paid leave instead of unpaid leave for any portion of the 12 workweeks.
Parental Leave
*The university’s leave policy guarantees six months of parental leave for eligible employees upon the birth or adoption of a child. The first 12 weeks are considered FMLA-qualifying.
OPS employees, including Post-Doctoral Associates, are eligible for up to 12 work weeks of parental leave, once they have worked at least 12 months (need not be consecutive), and also have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months prior to the start of the FMLA leave. Breaks in employment do not affect this total. It is a cumulative total of the number of months the employee has been employed by the University.
The official parental leave entitlement period may begin two weeks before the expected date of the child's birth, but must occur prior to the child’s first birthday, when parental leave entitlement ends. The employee may choose to use paid leave, unpaid leave, or a combination of paid and unpaid leave. With departmental approval, the employee may work a reduced work schedule. However, the total time of parental leave of absence cannot exceed six months from the first day of absence.
UF Paid Parental Leave
On December 10, 2010, the Board of Trustees approved changes to the UF Regulations to include a paid parental leave program.
Faculty (non-UFF), TEAMS and USPS employees in leave-accruing positions may request up to 6 weeks of advanced sick or vacation leave for the birth or adoption of a child or the initial placement of a child in the foster care of the employee. Employees may also use their personal accrued leave, unpaid leave, or a combination of paid and unpaid leave, so long as the total parental leave period, including the paid parental leave program, does not exceed a total of six (6) calendar months from the first date leave is used. If being used for foster care, the paid parental leave must be used within the FMLA entitlement period of twelve (12) workweeks.
The paid parental leave is also subject to the provisions of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and will count against the FMLA leave entitlement of twelve (12) workweeks during the UF fiscal year.
The employee will be required to repay the leave hours advanced within a three (3) year period from the first date the leave is used.
Upon separation of employment with the university, the hours used for paid parental leave, excluding any hours that were taken as accrued personal leave, will be deducted from the total balance of accrued sick and/or vacation leave or other payment owed by the University, prior to any payment being made. If the paid parental leave taken exceeds the available balance of unused leave at the time of separation, the employee will be required to repay the cost of the difference of the hours that have not been repaid.
For more information and procedure to apply, see the links listed below.
- UF Paid Parental Leave - Information and Procedure
- UF Paid Parental Leave
Letter of Request
Intermittent Leave Application form (2011-12)
Intermittent Leave Application form (2012-13)
- UF Regulations – http://regulations.ufl.edu/chapter1/
Paid Parental Leave for In-Unit Faculty
In accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding on Paid Parental Leave Program, in conjunction with the BOT-UFF Collective Bargaining Agreement Memorandum of Understanding, eligible faculty members may apply for up to 19.5 contiguous weeks, or one semester, of paid parental leave under Section 24.8 of the BOT-UFF Collective Bargaining Agreement. For more information and procedure to apply, see the links listed below.
- UFF Memorandum of Understanding/Section - 24.8 BOT-UFF Collective Bargaining Agreement
- Paid Parental Leave - Information and Procedure
- Paid Parental Leave - Letter of Request
Military Family Leave Entitlements
- Eligible employees with a spouse, son, daughter, or parent on active duty or call to active duty status in the National Guard or Reserves in support of a contingency operation may use their 12-week leave entitlement to address certain qualifying exigencies. Qualifying exigencies may include attending certain military events, arranging for alternative childcare, addressing certain financial and legal arrangements, attending certain counseling sessions, and attending post-deployment reintegration briefings.
- FMLA also includes a special leave entitlement that permits eligible employees to take up to 26 weeks of leave to care for a covered servicemember during a single 12-month period. A covered servicemember is a current member of the Armed Forces, including a member of the National Guard or Reserves, who has a serious injury or illness incurred in the line of duty on active duty that may render the servicemember medically unfit to perform his or her duties for which the servicemember is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy; or is in outpatient status; or is on the temporary disability retired list.
Employee Eligibility
Faculty, TEAMS, and USPS employees hired into leave-accruing positions are eligible for FMLA leave upon hire at the University of Florida.
OPS employees, including Post-Doctoral Associates, are eligible for up to 12 work weeks, once they have worked at least 12 months (need not be consecutive), and also have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months prior to the start of the FMLA leave. Breaks in employment do not affect this total. It is a cumulative total of the number of months the employee has been employed by the University.
FMLA Benefit Year
The University of Florida uses the UF fiscal year, which is the twelve-month period from July 1 through June 30.
Serious Health Condition
Serious health condition means an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves:
- any period of incapacity or treatment connected with inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility; or
- a period of incapacity requiring absence of more than three calendar days from work, school, or other regular daily activities that also involves continuing treatment by (or under the supervision of) a health care provider; or
- any period of incapacity due to pregnancy, or for prenatal care; or
- any period of incapacity (or treatment therefore) due to a chronic serious health condition; or
- a period of incapacity that is permanent or long-term due to a condition for which treatment may not be effective; or,
- any absences to receive multiple treatments (including any period of recovery therefrom) by, or on referral by, a health care provider for a condition that likely would result in incapacity of more than three consecutive days if left.
Family Member
An employee's spouse, children (son or daughter), and parents are immediate family members for purposes of FMLA.
While use of sick leave and extended medical leaves of absence are available for employees with family members who meet the University's definition of immediate family, those absences will not be designated as qualifying under the FMLA unless the employee's family member also meets the federal definition. The university's definition for "immediate family" is defined as an employee's spouse, domestic partner, great-grandparent, grandparent, parent, brother, sister, child, grandchild, or great-grandchild, or the grandparent, parent, brother, sister, child, grandchild, or great-grandchild of the employee's spouse or domestic partner, or the spouse or domestic partner of any of them. This also includes individuals for whom the employee is current legal guardian.
Requesting FMLA
An employee must provide the university at least 30 days advance notice before FMLA leave is to begin if the need for the leave is foreseeable based on an expected birth, placement for adoption or foster care, or planned medical treatment for a serious health condition of the employee or of a family member. If 30 days notice is not practicable, notice must be given as soon as practicable.
The department must inform employees requesting leave whether they are eligible under FMLA. If they are, the notice must specify any additional information required as well as the employees’ rights and responsibilities. If they are not eligible, the employer must provide a reason for the ineligibility. If the employee will be going on extended leave of absence, the Extended Leave of Absence form includes the employee’s rights and responsibilities under the FMLA, as well as the Designation Notice, which must be completed by the employer to indicate if the leave is FMLA-qualifying,
FORMS
Certification of Health Care Provider for Employee's Serious Health Condition
Certification of Health Care Provider for Family Member's Serious Health Condition
Certification of Qualifying Exigency for Military Family Leave
Certification for Serious Injury of Illness of Covered Servicemember
FMLA Designation notice
Request for Extended Leave of Absence