Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

Family Medical Leave offers employees up to 12 weeks or 480 hours of leave in a rolling calendar year for a personal health condition; serious health condition of a spouse, parent, or child; and or incapacity due to pregnancy, prenatal medical care or child birth, to care for the employee’s child after birth, or foster care placement of a child. Employees who have a total of at least 12 months of state service and who have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period preceding the beginning of the leave may be entitled to leave benefits under FMLA.

An eligible employee may take family and medical leave for any of the following qualifying events or conditions:

1. The birth of a child and the care of the newborn.
2. The placement of a child with an employee in connection with the adoption or state-approved foster care of the child.
3. The serious health condition of a child, parent, or spouse of the employee.
4. A serious health condition of the employee.

Please see the policy links below for complete Family Medical Leave definitions and information:

• UHCL FMLA Policy
• University of Houston System FMLA Policy

If you need to take leave for a reason that may qualify for protection under the FMLA, please complete all of the appropriate forms and submit all required forms to your Benefits Coordinator as soon as possible.

Required forms: Please complete each of the required forms for the type of leave you will be taking.

• Placement of a Child for Adoption or Foster Care
• Employee Serious Health Condition or Birth
• Family Member's Serious Health Condition

• FMLA Training Presentation
• FMLA Frequently Asked Questions
• UHCL FMLA Policy
• FMLA Employee Guide
• FMLA Employee Guide-Spanish
• FMLA Employee Rights and Responsibilities
• FMLA Employee Rights and Responsibilities-Spanish
• How to Submit FMLA Leave Time

Military Family Leave Entitlements: Eligible employees whose spouse, son, daughter or parent is on covered active duty or call to covered active duty status may use their 12-week leave entitlement to address certain qualifying exigencies. FMLA also includes a special leave entitlement that permits eligible employees to take up to 26 weeks of leave to care for a covered service member during a single 12-month period.

Additional information may be found on the U.S. Department of Labor web site.

Employees who do not meet the eligibility requirements for FMLA, may be eligible for parental leave for the birth of a natural child or the adoption or foster care placement of a child under 3 years of age.

UHCL Parental Leave Policy

Benefits eligible employees who have a catastrophic injury or illness affecting them or their immediate family and who have used all earned leave may request paid sick leave time from the sick leave pool. A catastrophic illness is defined as a severe condition or combination of conditions affecting the mental or physical health that requires the services of a licensed practitioner for a prolonged period of time and that forces the employee to exhaust all leave time earned by the employee and to lose compensation. The uncomplicated delivery of a child at the conclusion of a pregnancy is not considered a catastrophic illness or injury. A prolonged illness or injury must last in excess of 30 consecutive calendar days. Immediate family is defined as stated in the sick leave policy.

Requests for withdrawal of pool hours are voluntary and cannot be requested until all leave accruals have been exhausted and 30 consecutive calendar days has elapsed from the date of the illness. The request cannot be for less than five days and cannot exceed 30 days. The maximum number of hours that can be withdrawn is 720 hours in the lifetime of the employee's employment with the University.

The Benefits Coordinators are the sick leave pool administrators for UHCL and are responsible for communicating the regulations of the policy to both the employee and the department.

To obtain information regarding the Sick Leave Pool policy, please refer to the University of Houston System Administrative Memorandum, 02.D.02 .