Some contact during FMLA leave is allowed, and some is even required: handoff questions, status updates, certification and benefits paperwork. Requiring someone to keep working during leave is where it can cross into interference.
Part-time work counts toward FMLA — there’s no full-time requirement. What matters is 1,250 hours in the preceding year, which averages about 24 hours a week. The catch: paid vacation, sick days and holidays don’t count toward it, and neither does last year’s FMLA leave.
Learn when FMLA protects your job, when an employer can legally terminate your employment, and what rights eligible employees have under federal law.
Your employer can usually require you to spend your vacation days during FMLA leave, and your twelve weeks don’t get any longer for it. There are two exceptions, and one of them is new.
FMLA gives you 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period — 26 for military caregivers. But two things decide your actual situation: which of the four methods your employer uses to count that 12-month period, and what protections remain when the weeks run out. Here’s how the counting works, how much you really have left, and why the question to ask at week 10 is different from the one at week 13.
Learn what qualifies as a serious health condition under FMLA, including chronic illnesses, pregnancy, mental health conditions, surgeries, and medical treatments.
Short-term disability pays you but gives you no right to your job back. FMLA protects your job but pays nothing. They’re not alternatives — most people facing surgery or a long illness need both, running at the same time. Here’s how they differ, how they overlap in practice, what happens when disability payments outlast your FMLA protection, and the one email to send before you go out.
What happens if you don’t return to work after FMLA? Learn whether you can be fired, lose benefits, repay health insurance costs, or request more leave.
Can you extend FMLA beyond 12 weeks? Learn when additional leave may be available, how the ADA applies, and what to do if you need more time off.
FMLA approval usually takes three to four weeks — but most of that is your own 15-day window to return medical paperwork, not your employer deciding. They have five business days to confirm eligibility and five more to designate the leave, and those are legal deadlines rather than targets. Here’s the full timeline, what actually causes delays, what to send if your employer is late, and why you usually don’t have to wait for approval to start your leave.
