The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave

88 | the essential guide to family and medical leave
ill parent. This rule applies even to spouses who work at different worksites
or in different divisions of your company. (29 C.F.R. § 825.202(b).) Spouses
are allowed to use the combined leave at the same time.
If the parents are not married, they each get 12 weeks of leave. This rule
seems to favor unmarried couples, but the reason for the rule is actually to
avoid discouraging employers from hiring married couples by lessening the
burden on those employers when their married employees have children
together.
Example: Dan and Anabelle both work for your company and are married to
each other. Dan works in the downtown headquarters, while Anabelle works in the
warehouse in a nearby suburb. They are both eligible for FMLA leave. Three months
ago, Dan and Anabelle adopted a child. Anabelle requests seven weeks of leave in
connection with the adoption. You grant the requested leave.
During Anabelle’s leave, Dan asks for five weeks off to bond with the child, two
weeks of which will overlap with Anabelle’s leave. You grant his request. Were you
right to do so?
Yes. You accurately noted the time off for each of the parents and calculated the
total combined FMLA parenting leave to be taken. Dan was entitled to the five
weeks of parenting leave that was left after Anabelle’s leave was subtracted from the
combined 12 weeks.
Unmarried couples are each entitled to the full 12 weeks of FMLA parenting
leave. However, unlike married couples, they are not entitled to FMLA leave
to care for each other when one has a serious medical condition. So if an
unmarried pregnant employee needs care for a serious medical condition and
you also employ her partner, her partner is not entitled to FMLA leave to
provide that care. Your state’s family and medical leave law might require you
to grant leave to care for a domestic partner, however. (Appendix A provides
information on each state’s family and medical leave laws.)