The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires covered employers to provide eligible employees with unpaid, job-protected leave for qualifying reasons. Qualifying reasons include needing time off due to the employee’s own serious health condition and caring for a spouse, son, daughter or parent who has a serious health condition.
Serious Health Condition
A serious health condition is an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves inpatient care or continuing treatment by a health care provider. It does not include routine medical examinations, such as a physical, or common medical conditions, such as an upset stomach unless complications develop.
Types of Serious Health Conditions
Inpatient care means an overnight stay in a hospital, hospice or residential medical care facility and any period of incapacity or subsequent treatment in connection with the overnight stay.
Health conditions are also considered serious if they require continuing treatment by a health care provider. Such conditions include:
- Incapacity plus treatment involving a period of incapacity of more than three consecutive, full calendar days, with follow-up treatment;
- Any period of incapacity due to pregnancy or prenatal care;
- Any period of incapacity due to a chronic serious health condition requiring health care provider visits at least twice a year and recurring over an extended period;
- A period of incapacity due to a permanent or long-term condition for which treatment may not be effective but requires the continuing supervision of a health care provider; and
- Conditions requiring multiple treatments, which specifically include surgery after an accident or other injury, or a condition that would likely result in incapacity of more than three days without treatment.