Start with coverage and eligibility

The Family and Medical Leave Act provides eligible employees of covered employers with job-protected leave for qualifying reasons. Private employer coverage generally requires 50 employees for the required number of workweeks; public agencies and schools follow coverage rules that can differ.

Employee eligibility generally includes 12 months of employment, at least 1,250 hours of service in the preceding 12 months and a worksite with 50 employees within 75 miles. Special rules and exceptions can apply. Employer coverage and an individual employee’s eligibility are separate questions.

Understand what protected leave can do

Qualifying reasons can include an employee’s serious health condition, care for certain family members, bonding with a new child and specified military-family needs. Eligible employees generally can receive up to 12 workweeks of leave in the applicable leave year, with a separate military-caregiver entitlement. Leave may be unpaid and can sometimes run alongside paid leave.

Medically necessary intermittent or reduced-schedule leave may be available. Notice and certification requirements matter, as do the employer’s leave-year method and the leave already used.

Distinguish interference from retaliation

An interference concern may involve improperly denying protected leave or counting it against attendance. Retaliation concerns adverse treatment because an employee exercised protected rights. The employer may still take action for a legitimate reason unrelated to leave. The records and decision-making timeline help separate those possibilities.

  • Leave requests, eligibility notices and designation notices
  • Certification requests and documents submitted
  • Attendance points, discipline and return-to-work communications

Look at protections beyond the FMLA

An employee who is ineligible for FMLA leave may still have an accommodation issue under disability or pregnancy law. Exhausting FMLA leave does not answer every return-to-work question. Review the reason for leave, restrictions, available work and communications together rather than treating one exhausted benefit as the end of the inquiry.

Common questions

What employees ask us

Does FMLA leave have to be paid?

The FMLA itself can provide unpaid leave. Employer-provided paid leave may run at the same time, depending on the circumstances and applicable rules. Pay and job protection are separate questions.

Does medical leave protect every absence?

No. Coverage, eligibility, the qualifying reason, available leave and notice requirements matter. Other accommodation protections may need consideration when an absence is not covered by the FMLA.

Official information

Content updated October 21, 2026. General information; individual circumstances and applicable law matter.