Family And Medical Leave Act

(effective 1/1/07)

Lesley University will grant an unpaid leave to all eligible employees under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for up to 12 work weeks (60 days) for any given 12 month period, provided that they have worked at the University for at least 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 hours during the previous 12 months immediately preceding the request for the leave. The leave may be paid if the employee uses accrued but unused sick, vacation, personal time and/or Short Term Disability or is eligible for parenting leave depending on the circumstances.

FMLA leave is granted for an employee's own serious health condition; for caring for an employee's spouse, child or parent with a serious health condition; for caring for employee's newborn child and for placement of a child with the employee for adoption, or by the State for foster care.

Effective January 28, 2008, the National Defense Authorization Act was amended to provide FMLA eligible employees leave rights related to the military services. An eligible employee who is the spouse, son, daughter, parents or next of kin is granted up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave during one 12-month period to provide care to injured U.S. military personnel.

In addition, eligible employees are entitled to up to 12 weeks of leave because of "any qualifying exigency" arising out of the fact that the spouse, son, daughter, or parent of the employee is on active duty or has been notified of an impending call to active duty status, in support of a contingency operations. By the terms of the statute, this provision requires the Secretary of Labor to issue regulations defining "any qualifying exigency." In the interim, employers are encouraged to provide this type of leave to qualifying employees.

Once an employee is approved for FMLA leave, he/she may use any accrued leave balance (sick, vacation, and/or personal).

Upon completion of a Family Medical Leave, the employee will ordinarily be reinstated to the position previously held. However, Lesley cannot guarantee that this will always be the case, and you may be placed in a comparable position with equivalent pay, benefits, and other terms and conditions instead. Nine and ten-month faculty should consult Human Resources for more information.

To request a leave under the Family Medical Leave Act, or to receive more information, contact Human Resources at 617.349.8787.