AND other Leave Laws
February 2016

Job protection for serious medical
conditions:
◦ For employees’ own condition.
◦ For immediate family members.
 Immediate Family Members include spouse, parent, or child.
 Per Washington law, domestic partners are included as
immediate family members.
 Child must be under 18, or over 18 and incapable of self care.

Job protection for:
◦ Parental leave, Adoption.
◦ Military Exigency Leave.
◦ Military Caregiver Leave.
Guarantees the employee’s right to
remain in the same or equivalent
position.

Victims of Domestic Violence.

Spouses of Deployed Military Personnel.

Washington Disability Law
 Paid leave or LWOP as needed.
 15 days of paid leave or LWOP.
 Entitles pregnant women time off as directed by
their HCP.
 Paid leave or LWOP.
 Entitles temporarily disabled individuals time off as
directed by their HCP.
 Paid leave or LWOP.
Prior to the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993,
employees had no job protection when taking
leave for medical reasons.

Employees are entitled to up to 12 weeks of job
protected leave if :
◦ The employer has 50 or more employees within a 50 mile
radius.
◦ The employer is a Public Employer

They have worked at least 1250 hours
within the previous 12 month period.
Paid Leave/Leave Without Pay (LWOP) and Holidays do not
count towards the 1250 hours.

Employed at least 12 months (52 weeks need not be consecutive) for a covered
employer.
Employer does not have to count service prior
to 7 years.
Rolling (forward) – 12 month period
Twelve weeks of leave during the 12 month
period, beginning on the first date FMLA leave
is taken.
This means the cycle repeats as needed in
following years.
12 weeks
FMLA in 12 month
Entitlement Period
• FMLA 12 month Entitlement Period is
March 1, 2014 through February 28, 2015
Established
- 2 weeks
continuous leave
- 4 weeks
continuous leave
• Own medical Condition
March 1, 2014 through March 14th, 2014
• Family Member medical Condition
Dec. 1, 2014 through Dec. 31, 2014

12 weeks of unpaid leave.
◦ Although the employee may opt to use paid leave if
available.
◦ Keep the same salary and same or equivalent job.

No loss of health benefits.
◦ The employee must maintain their portion of health
care premiums.
◦ The employer continues to pay the employer’s
portion of premium.
FMLA is NOT additional
paid leave.
Employees who are out of their
own paid leave must take leave
without pay (LWOP).
 12
weeks of unpaid FMLA leave for:
oOwn serious health condition.
oParental leave, including adoption.
oImmediate family member’s serious
health condition.
oMilitary qualifying exigency.
An illness, injury, impairment, or physical or
mental condition that involves:
 Inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or
residential medical care facility, or any
subsequent treatment in connection with
such inpatient care.
 Continuing treatment by a health care
provider (HCP)
 Any period of incapacity or treatment for
such incapacity due to a chronic serious
health condition.

A medical condition requiring over three days absence.
◦ EXAMPLES:
 Surgeries and recovery.
 Maternity leave
 In-patient Treatment.

A medical condition requiring regular intermittent leave.
◦ EXAMPLES:
 Out-Patient Treatment.
 Required Doctor or Therapy Visits.
 Recurring Episodes of a Single Underlying Condition.

Cold, flu, earaches, and minor ulcers.

Cosmetic treatments.

Substance Abuse.
Unless in a certified treatment program
FMLA -Military

26 weeks of unpaid leave for:
oCovered service member recovering
from a serious illness or injury
sustained in the line of duty while on
active duty.
26 weeks of leave in a single 12-month period applies to:
An eligible employee (meets the 1250 hours threshold in
the previous 12 month period) who is the spouse, child of
any age, parent, or next of kin of a covered service
member recovering from:
 A serious illness or injury sustained in the line of duty while
on covered active duty.
 A serious illness or injury includes aggravation of existing or
preexisting injuries/illnesses that were incurred in the line of
military duty.
 A covered service member now includes veterans who are
undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy for
an illness or injury that manifested itself before or after the
service member became a veteran.
Employee is entitled to up to 12 weeks of leave
because of:
•
•
Any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that
the spouse, child of any age, or parent of the
employee is on active duty, or has been notified of
an impending call to active duty status, in support
of a contingency operation.
Exigency leave applies to family members of the
Reserves, national Guard and of the Regular Armed
Forces and Retired Reserves.
Leave For Spouses of Deployed Military
Personnel
RCW 49.77
During a period of military conflict, an employee
who is the spouse of a member of the armed
forces, National Guard, or reserves is entitled to
15 days of unpaid leave per deployment after the
military spouse has been notified of an
impending call or order to active duty.
Must provide five days prior notice.
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Disability Leave
RCW 49.78
Provides women with a leave of absence for the
period of time that she is sick or temporarily
disabled because of pregnancy or childbirth.
 This typically entails six weeks of leave after the
birth of a baby.
 May also include any needed time off before the
birth, as directed by the HCP.
 The 12 week FMLA entitlement runs concurrently
with the disability leave.

 18
+ weeks of combined FMLA and
WA Family Leave for:
oPregnancy, childbirth, and bonding.
Maternity leave above and beyond the FMLA.
Disability Leave 6 + Weeks
WA State Family Leave Act
FMLA
Weeks
12 Weeks
12 weeks
6
12
18
Leave for Victims of Domestic Violence
(DVL)
RCW 49.76

Grants leave for victims of domestic
violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
◦ For legal or law enforcement assistance, medical
treatment, counseling, or personal safety.

Covers child, spouse, parent, parent-inlaw, grandparent, or person the employee is
dating.
SUPERVISOR:
• Directs the Employee to HRS
• Notifies HR with information
HRS:
Determines eligibility
• Sends or gives the employee an FMLA packet
• Informs employee of their rights under the FMLA
Determines for what reasons and for how long the employee needs
leave, according to the Health Care Provider (HCP) Certification
Relays non-confidential information to supervisor concerning the
employees continuous or intermittent leave
•
•
•
Employee:
• Has 15 calendar days to return the completed FMLA packet
• Must designate absences when they are FMLA related
• Must abide by Evergreen’s leave policies and procedures

Certification of Health Care Provider
◦ Specific to employees’ own condition or that of a family member.
◦ Separate certification for military leave.

Request for FML Form
◦ Indicates to the supervisor and HR how much leave the employee
anticipates and whether the leave will be paid or unpaid.





Release of Confidential Information.
Rights Under FMLA.
Physician’s Estimate of Physical Capacities.
Request for Reasonable Accommodation.
FMLA leave request instructions





30 days advance notice when foreseeable.
Domestic Violence Leave (DVL) requires employer notice
within 24 hours.
Comply with Evergreen’s leave policy and timekeeping
procedures.
An employee must state when their leave is for FMLA
purposes.

The leave system has a check box marked “FMLA” and
tracks hours automatically.
The employee does not have to give the supervisor details
about the nature of the medical condition.
All Medical Documentation
Must Be Kept in a Separate
Medical File in HRS.
Must not be kept in supervisory files.
John sometimes needs to leave work because
of migraine headaches.
DOES JOHN QUALIFY FOR FMLA?
Yes, John’s condition is considered “chronic”
under the FMLA.
Supervisor:
Send John to HRS to pick up an FMLA packet (packets can also be
emailed).
HRS:
Place John on conditional FMLA pending the return of the Certification
of Health Care Provider.
How to check the “FMLA” box when submitting
leave for FMLA on the Leave Request screen.
This will ensure the leave you take is protected
under the FMLA
Enter Leave
Preview Leave Request
This is how you check if you indeed marked/checked the “FMLA” box. You can look up a
leave request in the pending leave tab or the leave history tab (double click a leave request)
and select “Detail”. The leave request will expand and you can see if you checked the
“FMLA” box.
There could be reasons that the FMLA check box is
not available after you preview your leave request:
 Your FMLA period ended
 You exceeded your 12 week (or other) entitlement
If you are having problems “checking” the FMLA box when
submitting a leave request, please contact HRS.

Human Resources is obligated by law to
designate FMLA for:
◦ serious/chronic sick leave absences over 3 days.
◦ Regular intermittent leave.


Supervisors must know when an employee is
taking FMLA leave.
Employees are protected from disciplinary
action for reasons concerning their medical
condition.