Qualifying Reasons
Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), an employee may take up to 12 work weeks of unpaid leave during a single 12-month period for the following reasons:
- The birth and care of a newborn child;
- The placement and care of a child following adoption or foster care assignment;
- A serious health condition;
- The need to care for a spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition;
- A “qualifying exigency,” because a spouse, child, or parent is a military member on covered active duty.
An employee may qualify for up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave if a spouse, child, or parent is a covered service member with a serious injury or illness, and the employee needs to provide care.
FML is restricted to yourself, parents, children, or spouses and applies only to serious illnesses, including some chronic health conditions that may cause episodic rather than foreseeable illnesses. Routine illnesses like the common cold or flu, earaches, upset stomach, minor ulcers, and headaches other than migraine are not serious health conditions for purposes of FML.
Eligibility for FML
All university employees, are eligible for FML if they meet these requirements:
Employed by the university for at least 12 months
- The calculation of the 12 months of U of A employment is cumulative, including work in all positions held. Separate periods of employment count if the break in service does not exceed 7 years.
AND
Worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period immediately preceding the start of the FML
- Only hours actually worked count toward the 1,250 hours. Paid time off, such as sick and vacation leave, and unpaid absences do not count as hours worked. However, if an employee is absent due to a National Guard or Reserve military obligation, that leave is credited as time worked.
The University of Arizona’s “leave year” is a rolling 12-month period. This means that if an employee used any FML during the 12 months preceding the proposed start date of the present leave, the 12-week maximum FML allotment is reduced by that amount. Examples of how the rolling 12-month period works can be found in this Department of Labor Fact Sheet.
For purposes of the military family leave entitlement only, the leave year begins on the first day the eligible employee takes FML to care for the covered service member and ends 12 months after that date. FMLA leave for this reason is applied on a per-covered-service member, per-injury basis, but only 26 work weeks of FMLA leave may be taken within a single 12-month period.
Same Employer Limitation for Spouses
Eligible spouses who are both employed by the university are limited to a combined total of 12 work weeks of FMLA leave in a leave year for qualifying reasons. For military family leave, the combined total is 26 weeks.