FMLA administration
The Family and Medical Leave Act is a strict-liability statute: miss a notice deadline, miscount eligibility, or fail to restore a returning employee and the workspace owes back-pay plus liquidated damages. The FMLA administration surface gives you the eligibility check, the designation paperwork, the rolling-window counter, and the restoration worksheet — all on one file per leave.
TL;DR — Open EEO → Protected leaves → New designation. Pick the employee, pick the qualifying reason, attach the certification. The system runs the eligibility check + entitlement math. You issue the Designation notice (WH-382) with one click. Track usage on the leave file; restoration paperwork generates on return.
Before you start
- Have the WH-380 medical certification (employee's own serious health condition: WH-380-E; family member: WH-380-F) or the WH-384 military-caregiver certification on hand if applicable.
- Confirm which 12-month measurement the workspace uses (calendar year, fixed leave year, rolling-forward, or rolling-backward). Switching mid-stream requires a 60-day notice; see the workspace's Time-off policies page.
- Have the state-equivalent ready if you operate in a state with paid family leave (CA/CFRA, NY-PFL, MA-PFML, WA-PFML, CO-FAMLI, OR-PFMLI, others). The state benefit often runs concurrent with FMLA — see State concurrency below.
The eligibility check
| Field | What it does | Accepted values / default |
|---|---|---|
| 12 months of employment | The employee has worked for the employer for at least 12 months — not necessarily consecutive. | Breaks under 7 years generally count back; under 5 years for some military service. Pre-fill from HCM service date. |
| 1,250 hours of service in the prior 12 months | Actual hours worked, not hours paid. | Comp time, leave, and holidays don't count. The system reads from HCM time tracking. |
| 50 employees within 75 miles | The worksite tests for FMLA coverage at the geographic-distance level. | Computed from worksite addresses; a remote worker's worksite is the one they report to. |
| No exhausted entitlement | Employee hasn't already used the 12 weeks (or 26 for military caregiver) in the measurement period. | Counter is the rolling tally specific to the workspace's measurement choice. |
Designate a new leave
Open EEO → Protected leaves → New designation
A 3-step form opens.
Pick the employee
Search by name or worker ID. The form runs the eligibility check instantly; if any test fails, you're shown which and given a template denial letter to issue.
Pick the qualifying reason
Self-care, family care, birth/bonding/foster, military exigency, or military caregiver (26-week entitlement). The reason determines the certification template you'll need.
Issue the eligibility notice (WH-381)
The form pre-fills WH-381 with the employee's data; review and issue. The 5-business-day deadline starts when the employee first requested leave — the timer in the upper-right shows time remaining.
Request certification (if not already attached)
The system sends the relevant WH-380-x form with a 15-calendar-day return window. Reminder notifications go automatically.
Issue the designation notice (WH-382)
Once certification is reviewed and complete, issue WH-382. The leave is now formally designated.
Track usage
The leave file shows two clocks: the entitlement clock (how many weeks remain in the period) and the rolling 12-month clock (when prior usage rolls off).
| Field | What it does | Accepted values / default |
|---|---|---|
| Continuous leave | Employee is out for a stretch of consecutive days. | Counts at the full daily rate. Weekly drain visible on the file. |
| Intermittent leave | Employee takes leave in increments — appointments, flare-ups. | Counts in the smallest increment the workspace tracks (typically 15 min). Each instance is logged separately. |
| Reduced schedule | Employee works a shorter day or week for a defined period. | The reduction (e.g. 8 hours vs. 40) is the leave; counts at that fractional rate weekly. |
State concurrency
Most state paid-leave benefits run concurrent with FMLA — the employee uses the same 12 weeks, with the state benefit replacing the wages FMLA doesn't.
| Field | What it does | Accepted values / default |
|---|---|---|
| California (CFRA + PFL) | CFRA tracks 12 weeks like FMLA; PFL pays wage replacement. | Pregnancy-disability leave is SEPARATE — up to 4 additional months. |
| New York (NY-PFL) | 12 weeks paid family leave at a percentage of average weekly wage. | Runs concurrent with FMLA when both apply. Not concurrent for own serious health condition (NY-PFL doesn't cover self). |
| Massachusetts (PFML) | Up to 26 weeks combined family + medical at progressive wage replacement. | Concurrent with FMLA. Bonding leave is 12 weeks; own serious health is 20. |
| Washington (PFML) | 12 weeks family + 12 weeks medical, capped at 16 combined (18 with pregnancy complications). | Concurrent with FMLA. |
| Other state PFL programs | Colorado FAMLI, Oregon PFMLI, Connecticut, New Jersey, others. | Workspace tracks each program separately; the leave file shows which apply to the employee. |
Restore on return
Open the leave file → Restoration
On the planned return date, the restoration worksheet activates.
Confirm fitness-for-duty (if requested at designation)
Upload the WH-380-x release. Without the release, the employee isn't required to return until it's provided (or the leave expires).
Restore to same OR equivalent position
The system pulls the pre-leave role + comp + schedule and shows you what the restored role must match. Equivalent means same pay, same benefits, same authority, same shift, and (within reason) same worksite.
Document any deviation
A non-equivalent restoration requires a documented justification (job elimination through unrelated RIF, key-employee exception triggered, etc.). Without justification, the restoration is a statutory violation.
Close the leave file
The file moves to Completed. Entitlement counter retains the used weeks for the rest of the measurement period.
Every field, explained
| Field | What it does | Accepted values / default |
|---|---|---|
| Measurement method | Which 12-month window the workspace uses. | Calendar / fixed leave year / rolling-forward / rolling-backward. Set workspace-wide. |
| Qualifying reason | Statutory category for the leave. | Drives entitlement (12 vs 26 weeks) and certification form. |
| Eligibility notice (WH-381) | Tells the employee whether they qualify, plus their rights and responsibilities. | Must issue within 5 business days of leave request. |
| Certification (WH-380-E / WH-380-F / WH-384) | Medical (or military) documentation supporting the leave. | 15 calendar days for employee to return; you may seek clarification or second opinion under strict rules. |
| Designation notice (WH-382) | Formal designation of the leave as FMLA, with entitlement totals. | Issue within 5 business days of receiving sufficient certification. |
| Concurrency | Which state programs run alongside FMLA for this employee. | Read from the employee's work state. Each program tracks separately. |
| Fitness-for-duty release | Medical confirmation that the employee can return. | Only required if you requested it at designation AND it's job-related and consistent with business necessity. |
| Restoration role + comp | What the employee returns to. | Must equal pre-leave; non-equivalence requires statutory justification. |
Common gotchas
- "The employee took 3 sick days last week — should I designate them as FMLA?" If the absence meets a serious-health-condition pattern and you have notice, you must designate within 5 business days — including retroactively if necessary. Failing to designate doesn't preserve the entitlement; you owe the protections anyway.
- "The certification came back incomplete." You may request the missing pieces, with 7 calendar days for the employee to cure. Don't deny outright — incomplete is curable.
- "Manager wants the employee terminated for performance during leave." Performance termination during FMLA is heavily scrutinized. Loop in counsel before approving; the burden shifts to you to show the action is unrelated to the leave.
- "The 12 weeks are up but the employee still can't return." Engage the ADA accommodation process — extended leave can be a reasonable accommodation. See Accommodations.
- "Two parents at the workspace are taking baby-bonding leave." If they're spouses and the leave is for the same qualifying event (birth/foster), they share 12 weeks combined (not 24 each) for bonding — but each has full 12 weeks for any other qualifying reason. State programs may have different rules.
Troubleshooting
| Error code | What it means | Fix |
|---|---|---|
FMLA_NOT_ELIGIBLE_HOURS | The 1,250-hour test failed. | Issue eligibility denial (WH-381 with denial); offer ADA accommodation interactive process if applicable. |
FMLA_NOT_ELIGIBLE_WORKSITE | 50 / 75-mile test failed. | Issue denial; verify the worksite count in HCM is current. |
FMLA_ENTITLEMENT_EXHAUSTED | The employee has used all 12 (or 26) weeks in the measurement period. | Don't designate; engage ADA accommodation process. |
FMLA_DESIGNATION_LATE | The 5-day designation window has passed. | Designate anyway and document the delay; the protection still attaches. |
FMLA_RESTORATION_NOT_EQUIVALENT | The proposed return role differs from pre-leave in protected dimensions. | Either match pre-leave or document a statutory justification. |
How this is recorded
Every step — eligibility check, notice issuance, certification receipt, designation, weekly usage tally, restoration — writes to the leave file's ledger. The ledger is the artifact a Wage & Hour investigator reviews if a complaint is filed. The retention floor is 3 years from when the leave ended, per 29 CFR § 825.500; the workspace's audit-log retention policy may extend it.
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