3430.01 Family and Medical Leave (FMLA)
Employees may request use of the Family and Medical Leave Act by contacting the Director of Business Services and completing the appropriate form. CESA 5 provides family and medical leave to eligible employees consistent with Wisconsin and Federal laws. In general, eligible employees shall be allowed up to twelve (12) workweeks of unpaid leave per calendar year for the birth or placement of a child for adoption or foster care, or for the employee’s own serious health condition or when the employee is needed to care for the employee’s parent, spouse, or child with a serious health condition. Eligible employees are allowed twenty-six (26) weeks of unpaid leave to care for a parent, spouse, child, or next of kin who is on active duty and sustains a serious injury or illness which renders the service member medically unfit to perform his/her duties. Wisconsin and Federal family and medical leave will run concurrently with each other and with other leaves that are available to the employee under the policies of the Agency or other Federal and State laws. Family and Medical Leave is an unpaid leave of absence, however, CESA 5 reserves the right to allow employees to substitute paid leave available during the absence. The taking of leave under this policy will not be used in any employment decision involving the employee including the determination of raises or disciplinary action.
1. Eligibility for Leave
An employee, who has worked for CESA 5 for at least fifty-two (52) consecutive weeks and has been paid by CESA 5 for at least one thousand (1,000) hours in the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the date the leave begins, is eligible for leave under the Wisconsin family and medical leave law. An employee, who has work for the Agency for at least twelve (12) months and has worked at least one thousand two hundred fifty (1,250) hours for the Agency in the twelve (12) month period immediately preceding the date the leave begins, will be eligible for Federal family and medical leave. The leave taken under this policy will be counted toward the leave to which an employee may be entitled under Federal and/or Wisconsin leave laws.
2. Reasons for a Leave
Eligible employees are generally entitled to an unpaid leave under the Wisconsin family and medical leave policy during a calendar year and under the Federal family and medical leave policy during the Agency’s fiscal year, for one or a combination of the following reasons as allowable under each law:
· For the birth and care of a newborn child of the employee;
· For the placement with the employee of a son or daughter for adoption or foster care;
· To care for a spouse, son, daughter, or parent with a serious health condition;
· To care for an employee’s own serious health condition;
· For qualifying exigencies arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is on active duty or call to active duty status as a member of the
National Guard or Reserves in support of a contingency operation;
· Due to being the spouse, son or daughter, parent, or next of kin to a covered service member with a serious injury or illness.
3. Notification to the Agency
In the event the need for a leave under this policy is foreseeable, the employee shall notify the Human Resources Director, in writing, at least thirty (30) calendar days before the start of the leave. The form to request a family and medical leave is available from the Human Resources Director. In the event of an emergency, written notice must be received by the Agency promptly after the leave commences, and such notice must comply with the Agency’s policy regarding notice of absence from work. Failure to provide the required
notification may result in the delaying of the leave.
4. Benefit Coverage
If an employee is participating in the Agency’s group health, dental, life short-term and long-term disability insurance programs prior to the start of the leave, the employee may choose to continue to receive coverage under those plans. The Agency shall continue to provide health, dental, life, short-term, and long-term disability insurance at the same level and under the same conditions as if the employee was continuing to work, for the duration of the leave.
The employee shall continue to be responsible for the employee’s share of the premiums (if any is required for similarly situated active employees). If the employee has paid time off substituted for the otherwise unpaid leave, the employee’s share of the premiums will be paid through the normal payroll deduction method. If the leave or any portion thereof, is unpaid, the employee shall pay for the employee’s portion of the premiums (if any is required for similarly situated active employees) during the leave. All premiums for coverage must be received by the Agency no later than the first day of the month to which the coverage relates. Certain other benefits may also be continued during a leave provided under this policy.
An employee who does not want to continue health or any other insurance coverage while on leave shall notify the Business Services Department, in writing; otherwise, it will be
assumed that the employee chooses to continue such coverage. If an employee fails to return to work at the Agency or fails to remain at work for a period provided by law, the Agency may recover its portion of the premium paid for health plan coverage during the leave.
5. Additional Certification
The Agency may require an employee to provide additional Health Care Provider Certifications from a health care provider before the leave is approved. The Agency may
also require that an employee re-certify as to the continuation of the serious health condition at various points in times under certain circumstances.
6. Return to Position at the End of the Leave
An employee, who returns to work at the Agency at the end of a family and medical leave, shall be returned to the position the employee held at the commencement of the leave, or, if the position has been filled, to equivalent employment with the Agency. If an employee wishes to return to work before the previously approved end date of the leave, the employee shall provide the Agency reasonable advance notice prior to the desired return date. If the reason for the leave was the employee’s own serious health condition, the employee shall provide the Agency with a medical release from the employee’s health care provider before returning to work. Failure to provide such a release will delay the employee’s return to work until such release is provided to the Agency.
7. Failure to Meet Policy Requirements
An employee who fails to meet the requirements of this policy may have his/her request for a leave denied or delayed until the requirements are met.
Adopted 4/4/2013