Family Medical Leave (FMLA)
- We ask that all site secretaries (or employee responsible for tracking absences at a site/department) notify the Benefits Office when someone has taken 3 consecutive sick days, or when you become aware that someone needs to take time off for their own serious health condition or the serious health condition of a parent or dependent child.
- The Benefits Office will be responsible for sending the FMLA paperwork to the employee’s home address, and notifying the site if this leave has been approved as a FMLA absence.
- Most FMLA absences will require the employee to provide a release to return to work from their physician.
- Under HIPAA regulations, an employee does not have to share the reason for their absence with anyone other than the Benefits Office.
- Just because an Employee doesn’t qualify for FMLA does not mean they cannot call the absence in as Family Illness.
- It is always best to notify the Benefits Office of an FMLA qualifying absence before it occurs, if at all possible. Employees must respond to our request for medical paperwork in a timely manner (within 3 weeks of our sending the documentation to them) to be considered for FMLA.
- FMLA can be taken consecutively or intermittently, depending on the individuals medical needs. Only 12 weeks (60 days, or 480 hours) of FMLA may be used in a 12 month period.
- FMLA is unpaid. However, SPS allows employees to use accrued sick days consecutively with FMLA dates.
- Exception: SPS only approves 5 paid days of absence for Paternity leave. And only physician approved time off for Maternity leave (usually 6 weeks for natural birth, 8 weeks for C-sections) may be used from a new mother’s accrued sick leave.
Please have expectant parents contact our office regarding maternity and paternity leave.
The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows for 12 weeks of unpaid time off for the birth of a baby. The practice of Springfield Schools is to allow an employee to use 6-8 weeks of their accrued sick time during this period. (The amount of paid time off is determined by when the physician says the employee is medically fit to return to work - generally, 6 weeks for natural childbirth, 8 weeks for a C-Section).
- Paid time off is counted from the birthdate of the child (or physician's release date) and not your work calendar. However, some expectant mothers must begin their FMLA prior to the child’s birth, if this is true, paid time off could be counted differently.
- The FMLA unpaid time off is counted by work schedule. Winter, Spring, and Summer Breaks do not count against your 12 weeks of unpaid time off.
Remember paid time off comes from an employee’s accrued sick bank.
