Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

If you have a serious personal or family medical event, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) can help give you peace of mind.

About FMLA

FMLA entitles you to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per 12 month period for the following:

• The birth or care of a child
• An adoption or foster care placement of a child
• The care of a spouse/son/daughter/parent with a serious health condition
• Your serious health condition
• Handling issues (“, external,exigencies”) that arise when your spouse, child, or parent is on active duty in the Armed Forces.

You can take up to 26 weeks of unpaid FMLA to care for an ill servicemember or veteran, if you are their spouse, child, parent, or next of kin.

Eligibility

To be eligible for FMLA, you must have at least one year of federal service. Note that most veterans are immediately eligible.

Medical documentation to support your request is required.

How FMLA works

You can use 12 unpaid weeks of FMLA every 52 weeks. The 12 weeks are rolling, and are refilled a year to the day you first went on FMLA status.

Each time you use FMLA, it counts toward the 12 week/480 hour allotment.

• For example: you went on FMLA for 4 weeks in March 2022 to care for a seriously ill family member, and you used your accrued Sick Leave in order to be paid during those 4 weeks. You will only have 8 weeks of FMLA available until March 2023.

Paid Parental Leave and FMLA

You have to be eligible for FMLA to receive Paid Parental Leave (PPL). PPL is how the federal government implements FMLA for parental leave. This means you must have at least one year of federal service to use PPL. If you are a new federal employee, check out the , external,TTS-only, recommendations for those who have less than 1 year of federal service.

If you use FMLA prior to PPL, it reduces the number of PPL hours you can receive (and vice versa). If you max out 12 weeks of PPL, that uses up all the FMLA you can use for the next 52 weeks.

FMLA for caregiving and health reasons

If you need to take more than 13 days (total accrued Sick Leave for a year) for your own care or caregiving reasons, you can apply for FMLA.

Applying for FMLA

Contact your , external,TTS-only, Workforce Relations HR Specialist for next steps and documents. They can also help you explore different leave options depending on your situation.

Resources

• , external,Family and Medical Leave Act
• , external,OPM FMLA Fact Sheet
• TTS-only, GSA Time and Leave Administration Policy 6010.1C HRM
• TTS-only, GSA FMLA page found on InSite

Questions?

• For general questions about FMLA, you can post in , external,TTS-only, #people-ops or email , external,TTS-peopleops@gsa.gov
• For specific questions about your situation, email your , external,TTS-only, Workforce Relations HR Specialist