An employee who meets all eligibility requirements for the Family Medical Leave, may also be entitled to a total of 12 weeks (60 work days) of consecutive or intermittent time off work, to care for a qualified family member with a serious health condition. 

The FMLA definition of a qualifying family member for whom you are caring for during this type of leave is a child, spouse or parent. For further clarification on qualifying family members, please click here.

 • The "need for care" encompasses both physical and psychological care. It includes, for example:

 • Providing care for a qualifying family member who, because of a serious health condition, is unable to care for his or her own basic medical, hygienic, nutritional or safety needs, or is unable to transport himself or herself to the doctor, etc.;

 • Providing psychological comfort and reassurance that would be beneficial to a child, spouse or parent with a serious health condition who is receiving inpatient or home care; or

 • Filling in for others who normally care for the family member or to make arrangements for changes in care (transfer to a nursing home, for example).

 • The employee need not be the only individual or family member available to care for the qualifying family member.

It is important to note that all employees utilizing FMLA, regardless of the purpose of leave, share one full entitlement. For example: If an employee utilizes FMLA to recover from a surgery and is also using FMLA intermittently to care for a family member, both of these purposes share a total of one entitlement or a total of 12 weeks (60 work days.) All available paid leave accrual runs concurrently with this entitlement. If you are an employee who has exhausted all forms of your paid leave accrual, the FMLA time will be considered unpaid. You may also request Leave Share to run concurrently with any FMLA entitlement.

If you need time off to care for a qualified family member, please see the How to Request FMLA Leave page for the required forms and information to process your request. If you have any questions, please email the Human Resources Leave and Accommodations Analyst.