FMLA Definitions (A-M)
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ACCUMULATED PAID LEAVE: Employees must use any annual or sick leave in conjunction with FMLA leave. If no more paid leave is available, the rest of the FMLA leave will be unpaid leave.
BENEFITS CONTINUATION: Employees may continue their insurance benefits during FMLA leave. If you are on paid leave, your benefits will continue on the same basis they were on before. If you are on unpaid leave, you must pay the University’s portion of your premiums.
CHILDREN COVERED: The child you take FMLA time for can be your biological, adopted, or foster child.
CHRONIC CONDITIONS QUALIFIED: A chronic condition is qualified for FMLA leave if it:
- Requires periodic visits for treatment by a health care provider or by a nurse or physician’s assistant under direct supervision of a health care provider.
- Continues over an extended period of time (including recurring episodes of a single underlying condition); and
- May cause episodic rather than a continuing period of incapacity. Examples include asthma, diabetes, and epilepsy.
ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES: To be eligible for FMLA leave, an employee must have worked here for:
- At least 12 months (total, not necessarily the last 12 months), AND
- At least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period immediately before the start of the FMLA leave. The State of Texas is considered a single employer.
ELIGIBLE FAMILY MEMBERS: You may take time off to care for:
- Yourself,
- Your spouse,
- Your children, or
- Your parent.
You may not take this leave to care for your in-laws. Parental leave, which is a Texas program, limits your leave to care for your children.
FAMILY MEMBER CARE:
Includes:
- Both physical and psychological care.
- Situations where the employee may be needed to fill in for others who are caring for the family member.
FITNESS FOR DUTY: Employees who have taken FMLA time to care for themselves will need to submit a fitness for duty form before returning to work. This form, filled in by the health care provider, says that the employee is now well enough to work.
HEALTH CARE PROVIDER: Examples of health care providers include, but are not limited to:
- Doctors of medicine
- Doctors of osteopathy who are authorized to practice medicine or surgery in Texas
- Dentists
- Clinical psychologists
- Optometrists
- Chiropractors
- Nurse practitioners
HOLIDAYS AND FMLA: Holidays that occur during FMLA leave are not counted as holidays. They are part of the FMLA time. If the University were to close for an extended time, like for a spring break, that time would not count as FMLA time.
INCAPABLE OF SELF-CARE: Requiring active assistance or supervision to provide daily self-care in three or more basic or instrumental "activities of daily living," such as grooming and hygiene, bathing, dressing, eating, cooking, taking public transportation, etc. The definition also includes physical and mental disabilities that substantially limit one or more major life activities as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
IN LOCO PARENTIS: In loco parentis is a legal term describing a relationship similar to that of a parent to a child. It refers to an individual who assumes parental status and responsibilities for another individual, usually a young person, without formally adopting that person.
INTERMITTENT LEAVE: FMLA leave can be taken in separate blocks of time due to a single qualifying reason. There is no minimum number of hours of leave that can be taken at one time. FMLA allows employees to take leave in increments of 2 hours, 4 hours, etc. You must provide proper notice to your department, assuming your need for the leave is foreseeable.
JOB PROTECTION: An employee generally has a right to return to the same position or an equivalent position in terms of pay, benefits, and working conditions. Some “key employees” may not have this protection if they are among the highest-paid 10% of employees and if the job denial is necessary to prevent substantial and grievous economic injury to the operations of the Health Science Center.
MEDICAL CERTIFICATION: Documentation from a health care provider that an employee's request for leave to care for his/her seriously-ill spouse, son, daughter, or parent, or for the employee's own serious health condition is medically supported. The Certification of health Care Provider outlines the information that can be requested of a health care provider.
If the certification is unclear, the University is permitted to contact the employee's health care provider, with the employee's permission, for clarification and/or authentication of the medical certification. A copy of the certification of Health Care Provider should be forwarded in a separate confidential file to the Office of Human Resources. It will be placed in the employee’smedical file.