Family Medical Leave Act

The following material includes FMLA information that is related to how the Division of Statewide Payroll reports eligibility and leave taken.  In no way is the following information used to incorporate the complex details of the federal regulations that apply.  For information that is more complete refer to the Division of Human Resources HR Policy and Procedures Manual and the FMLA regulations at 29 CFR Part 825 (Title 29 = Labor, CFR = Code of Federal Regulations, Part 825 = The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993).  The US Dept of Labor Fact Sheet 28 series are applicable to the Family and Medical Leave Act.  The following link is to the fact sheet index -  http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs28.pdf
 
Eligibility
The Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 requires covered employers to provide up to 12 weeks (480.00 hours) of unpaid, job protected leave to 'eligible' employees for certain family and medical reasons. Family medical leave may be used to meet family responsibilities such as:
 
I.    Birth and care of an employee's newborn child.
II.   Placement of a foster child or adopted child in the employee's home.
III.  Care for an immediate family member with a serious illness.
IV. Medical leave used by an employee when they are unable to work because of a serious illness.
 
The National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 4986) (2008) (effective January 16, 2009) requires covered employers to provide up to 12 weeks (480.00 hours) for certain qualifying exigencies and 26 weeks (1040.00 hours) of unpaid, job protected leave to 'eligible' employees who have military family members.  Military family medical leave entitlements for eligible family members are:
 
I.    Up to (12) weeks of Standard FML may be used by employees for qualifying exigencies arising out of a covered military member’s active duty status or notification of an impending call to active duty.  Use earnings codes FML, FMS or FMV.
II.    Up to (26) weeks of Servicemember FML may be used by employees to care for a covered servicemember recovering from a serious injury incurred in the line of duty, on active duty.  When caring for a covered servicemember, use earnings codes FSL, FSS or FSV.
 
Employees are 'eligible' if they have worked for a covered employer for at least one year and worked at least 1,250 hours during the previous 12 months.  The State of Idaho is considered a covered employer.  The EIS Payroll System goes through the following steps to determine eligibility:
 
I.    The employee's Original Hire Date must be at least 12 months prior to the transaction date of the FML earnings.
II.    If an FML earnings is found within the past 12 months (the first Pay Date equal or greater than the current Pay Date minus one year), the employee is eligible to take additional FML earnings up to the 480 hour 12 month maximum.
III.   If no FML earnings are found in the past 12 months, the employee must have worked at least 1250 hours in the last 12 months. If any of the hours are overtime hours (extended hours) they are reduced to straight time hours before accumulating to the hours worked field.
 
'Eligible' employees are entitled to a combined total of up to 26 weeks (1040.00 hours) of all types of FML leave during a single 12 month period.
 
 
The following EIS Inquiry Screens will be useful in determining employee eligibility and how much Family Medical Leave hours have been taken.
  • IFM (Employee FML - Statewide) - This inquiry screen displays all standard and servicemember FML. This screen has the total hours of FML taken in the prior 12 months and the total number of hours worked including MDF and MDS for the prior 12 months.  
  • IOE (Earnings Screen) - Capable of looking at FML earnings codes that have been used in the current fiscal year. For example, one could look up FMS and see how many hours have been taken the last pay period, month-to-date, quarter-to-date, and year-to-date.  
When calculating FML hours taken, the State of Idaho uses the following schedule. The 12 months during which FML taken is calculated on a rolling basis, measured backward from the date an employee uses any FML.
 
Example:
 
Each time an employee takes FML, the remaining leave entitlement would be any balance of the 12 weeks for standard FML and 26 weeks for servicemember FML, which has not been used during the immediately preceding 12 months. 
 
FML Earnings Codes (FML, FMS, FMV, FSL, FSS, FSV, FMC, FSC, FMP).
 
The EIS system will accept earnings codes FML, FMS, FMV, FSL, FSS, FSV, FMC, FSC, FMP on a time sheet if the employee's original date of hire was at least 12 months before the date FML is first taken and the employee has worked one thousand two hundred fifty (1,250) hours during the previous 12 months. In addition to above requirements, the employee must be eligible for benefits in order to use FMP.
 
The insurance deductions through the Office of Group Insurance are to continue while the employee is on FML.  The employee must be active on the database during the pay period, and hours must be submitted with earnings codes for Family Medical Leave.  The employee's health insurance deduction will be taken as long as the employee's leave balances are sufficient to cover the deduction amount, otherwise the employee will need to self-pay their portion.
 
These earnings codes (FJL, FJS, and FJV) are to be used for tracking FMLA due to on the job accidents.  FJS (family medical leave on the job accident sick) will be treated with all the edits and defaults as FMS (family medical leave sick).  FJL (family medical leave on the job accident leave without pay) will be treated with all the same edits and defaults as FML (family medical leave without pay). 
 
When FJS is coded on an employee's time sheet and the employee does not have enough sick leave hours, then the system will default to FJV (family medical leave on the job accident vacation).  Vacation hours will be deducted from the vacation balance.
 
Changing the employee status to inactive and/or not submitting time will automatically stop the deductions from being taken.
 
Changing Time Sheet Codes
If an agency becomes aware of the need to use FML before an employee's return to work, their time sheets may be corrected to show FML.  Of course, it is much easier to change a time sheet to show FML before the payroll has been processed, but if it becomes necessary to change after the payroll is processed please contact the DSP Help Desk.