Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

The RF will grant family and medical leave in accordance with the requirements of applicable state and federal law in effect at the time the leave is granted. No greater or lesser leave benefits will be granted than those set forth in the relevant state or federal laws.

The following is a summary of the relevant provisions.

Eligible employees may receive up to a total of 12 work weeks   (26 weeks for military caregiver leave) of unpaid leave during a 12-month period.   To be eligible for family and medical leave benefits, you must:

• have worked for the RF for a total of at least 12 months
• have worked at least 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months

Leave may be used for one or more of the following reasons:

• for the birth of a child or placement of a child with an employee for adoption or foster care
• to care for an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition
• to take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of his or her own serious health condition
• a qualifying exigency that arises while a covered service member is on or called to active duty
• to care for a service member who has a serious illness or injury that was incurred in the line of duty while on active duty

Under some circumstances, employees may take family and medical leave intermittently--which means taking leave in blocks of time, or by reducing their normal weekly or daily work schedule. Certain restrictions on these benefits may apply.

Please contact your campus Benefits Office as soon as you become aware of the need for a family and medical leave. If you need family and medical leave, you may be required to provide:

• 30-day advance notice when the need for the leave is foreseeable
• medical certification from a health care provider (both prior to the leave and prior to reinstatement)
• periodic recertification
• periodic reports during the leave

Failure to provide this information when requested may affect the eligibility for or timing of Family   Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave.

Family and medical leave is unpaid. The RF may require you to use or you may choose to use accrued paid leave to cover some or all of the family and medical leave. The use of paid time off will not extend the length of a family and medical leave.

The RF will maintain, for up to a maximum of 12 work weeks of family and medical   leave (26 work weeks for military caregiver leave), any group health insurance coverage that you were provided before the leave on the same terms as if you   had continued to work. In some instances the RF may recover premiums it paid   to maintain health coverage if you do not return to work following family or medical leave.

Under most circumstances, upon return from family and medical leave, you will be reinstated to your previous   position, or to an equivalent job with equivalent pay, benefits and other employment   terms and conditions. However, upon return from a family and medical leave, you have no greater right to reinstatement than if you had been continuously employed rather than on leave.

Changes to FMLA

Effective January 1, 2018 the RF will use a look back method for determining FMLA availability. For those who are eligible, this means that the RF will look back over the last 12 months prior to the effective date of an FMLA request. Any FMLA used during that period will be deducted when determining the balance available for the current request. For the period November 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017, employees will have the option of using whichever methodology is more advantageous to them. In addition, effective January 1, 2018, eligible employees will be able to take intermittent FMLA leave for the birth or placement of a child.

For additional information on these types of leave without pay, you may contact your campus Benefits Office.