How do we handle FMLA for teachers who request leave at the end of a school year?

There are special rules in place for teachers and other instructional employees who take leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) at or near the end of the school year. The federal regulations contemplate three different scenarios, depending on when the employee takes the leave.

• More than 5 weeks until summer. If an employee begins FMLA leave more than five weeks before the end of the term, the district may require the employee to continue taking leave until the end of the term if the leave will last at least three weeks and the employee is ready to return to work during the last three weeks of the term.
• 3-5 weeks until summer. If an employee begins FMLA leave at some point during the last five weeks of the term, the district may require the employee to continue taking leave until the end of the term if the leave will last more than two weeks and the employee is ready to return to work during the last two weeks of the term.
• 3 weeks until summer. If an employee begins FMLA leave at some point during the last three weeks of the term, the district may require the employee to continue taking leave until the end of the term if the leave will last more than five working days.

For example, if an employee plans two weeks of leave to care for a family member which will begin three weeks before the end of the term, the employer could require the employee to stay out on leave until the end of the term.

Under all three sets of rules, only the leave the employee needs to use shall be charged against the employees FMLA leave entitlement. In the example provided, only the two weeks of leave should be counted as FMLA leave. However, the employee maintains the right to group health insurance and job restoration during the entire three weeks of leave.

Finally, there may be situations where a teachers need for FMLA will start at the end of the school year and carry over to the beginning of the next school year. In those cases, the period during the summer vacation when the employee would not have been required to report for duty is not counted against the employees FMLA leave entitlement.