Human Resource Blog

Unscheduled FMLA in Pennsylvania

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One of our employees is pregnant and has severe morning sickness.  She has come to work at our Pennsylvania Company 2 or 3 hours late several times.  She wants to use FMLA for that time, but I told her that FMLA only covers an entire day of leave, not a few hours here and there.  Who is right?

This employee in Pennsylvania is most likely right.  About 39 states, including Pennsylvania have no state-mandated disability leave or maternity leave, other than the federal FMLA. 

FMLA, or the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, gives employees the right to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave every year for numerous family or personal reasons.  Some of these reasons relate to an employee’s own serious health problem, and the birth of a child.

If employers have locations with 50 or more employees, within a 75-mile radius, then FMLA applies.  In addition to these stipulations, FMLA also applies to all private and public secondary and elementary schools.

For any company that is covered by the federal FMLA law, nothing prevents any employee from using his or her leave sporadically or intermittently.  For an employee undergoing chemotherapy, for instance, he or she might be able to work only partial days.  The employee would be allowed to use FMLA for the number of hours per day that he or she missed, until the total 12 weeks of leave had been exhausted.

Lots of employers are concerned about FMLA being utilized intermittently or sporadically.  The U.S. Department of Labor recently reported that this very issue is a top concern for employers throughout the United States.  There are some who believe that this was not the original intention of FMLA.  In the future, there could possibly be new legislation that might address this issue.

At this time, employees who are entitled to receive leave under the FMLA have to be granted that leave.  This holds true even if the employee chooses to use their time in increments of one or two hours. 

FMLA permits employees to receive up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave, if they are eligible.  Employees are eligible if they have worked for their current employer for at least 1,250 hours over the last 12 months.  JH