Book: G

Section: Personnel

Title: Family and Medical Leave

Code: GBN

Status: Active

Adopted: October 19, 1994

Last Revised: May 14, 2013; November 15, 2022

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FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE

Employees may be entitled to family and medical leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (“FMLA”), the Maine Family Medical Leave law (“MFML”), or the Maine School Employee Family Leave law (“Maine School Employee Leave”) when they meet all of the eligibility requirements of these laws. This policy sets forth several rules that must be applied uniformly to all employees who may be eligible for family and medical leave.

1.              The Federal Employee Eligibility Periods

A.   Eligibility for FMLA

Employees who have worked at least 1,250 hours in the previous 12 months, and who have been employed for at least 12 months (which need not be consecutive), may be eligible for FMLA under the federal law.

B.        Qualifying Reasons for FMLA

 Employees may qualify for FMLA if they experience one of the following:

1.     Serious health condition of the employee;

2.     Serious health condition of the employee’s immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent), for whom the employee will provide care;

3.     Birth of or care for a newborn child of the employee;

4.     Placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care;

1. 5. Qualifying exigency leave for an employee whose spouse, child or parent/legal guardian is a regular member of the Armed Forces on covered active duty deployed to a foreign country or a reserve member of the Armed Forces (including National Guard) on covered active duty deployed to a foreign country under a call or order to active duty in a contingency operation.

C.                 Amount of Leave Under FMLA 

Eligible employees experiencing one of the above qualifying reasons will be eligible for up to twelve (12) weeks of unpaid, job protected leave in a 12-month period.

2.              Maine FML

A.            Employee Eligibility

Employees who have been employed for at least 12 consecutive months are eligible for leave under the Maine FML.

B.             Qualifying Reasons for Maine FML

 Employees may qualify for Maine FML if they experience one of the following:

1.     Serious health condition of the employee;

2.     Serious health condition of the employee’s spouse, domestic partner, child (or child of domestic partner), grandchild (or grandchild of domestic partner), parent/legal guardian or sibling, for whom the employee will provide care;

3.     Birth of or care for the employee’s newborn child or newborn child of the employee’s domestic partner;

4.     Placement of a child 16 years of age or younger with the employee or the employee’s domestic partner for adoption;

5.     Donation of an organ for human transplant by the employee;

6.     Death or serious health condition of the employee’s spouse, domestic partner, parent/legal guardian, sibling or child as a member of the state military forces or United States Armed Forces (including National Guard and Reserves) while on active duty.

C.    Amount of Leave Under Maine FML

Eligible employees experiencing one of the above qualifying reasons will be eligible for up to ten (10) weeks of unpaid, job protected leave in a 2-year period.

 3.           Maine School Employee Leave

 A.               Eligibility for School Employee Leave

Employees who have worked at least 900 hours in the previous 12 months, and who have been employed for at least 12 months (which need not be consecutive), may be eligible for Maine School Employee Leave under the federal law. NOTE: The highlighted language reflects the fact that the language of the current law is silent about whether Maine School Employee Leave requires an employee to have worked for twelve months, non-consecutive, prior to becoming eligible for leave.

B.                Qualifying Reasons for Maine School Employee Leave

Eligible employees will qualify for Maine School Employee Leave if they are experiencing one of the conditions set forth under Section 1(B) of this policy (the qualifying reasons are the same as those under FMLA).

C.               Amount of Leave under Maine School Employee Leave

Eligible employees experiencing one of the above qualifying reasons will be eligible for up to twelve (12) weeks of unpaid, job protected leave in a 12-month period.

4.              The 12-month (or 2-year period)

The 12-month period used to determine employee eligibility for FMLA and Maine School Employee Leave for the purposes described above shall be the rolling 12-month period measured backward from the date the employee first uses family medical leave. The 2-year period used to determine employee eligibility for Maine FML for the purposes described above shall be the rolling 2-year period measured backward from the date the employee first uses Maine FML. 

In the case of FMLA and Maine School Employee Leave only, there is a separate 12-month period for employees eligible for military caregiver leave of up to 26 weeks. Such leave may be taken to care for a spouse, child, parent or next of kin of an eligible service member or veteran with a serious injury or illness. This leave is calculated from the first day that leave is taken for this purpose and does not track the employer’s designated 12-month FMLA/Maine School Employee Leave tracking period as described above. Any military caregiver leave that is not taken within the specific 12-month period is forfeited. This leave period may overlap with the usual 12-month leave period designated by the employer and in certain circumstances, this may impact the employee’s eligibility to take other types of FMLA/Maine School Employee Leave.

5.              Notice by Employee of the Need for Leave

Employees requesting leave shall provide at least 30 days’ notice to the Employer whenever the need for such leave is foreseeable. The employee shall provide appropriate medical certification (or other certification appropriate to the particular request) supporting the leave request.

When the Employer has reason to believe that an employee is or will be absent for an FMLA-qualifying purpose, the Employer should request the appropriate information from the employee to determine the employee’s eligibility for family and medical leave.

6.              Coordination with Other Leave

When leave taken qualifies as more than one type of family medical leave available by law (FMLA, MFML, Maine School Employee Leave), the leaves will run concurrently. In addition, family medical leave will run concurrent with “as permitted leave” (such as sick leave, vacation, and personnel leave) under any employment contract, collective bargaining agreement or policy, provided that the employee meets all of the eligibility requirements for each type of leave. Types of leave that shall run concurrently with applicable family medical leave include, but are not necessarily limited to: accrued sick leave, vacation and compensatory time, unpaid leave, disability leave, absence for work-related injuries, and any other applicable types of leave.

7.              Fitness for Duty Certificate

Before returning to work, employees taking family medical leave for their own serious health condition shall submit a certificate from a health care provider indicating that they are able to return to work and perform the essential functions of the position.

GBN - Family and Medical Leave.pdf (13 KB)

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