The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave

266 | the essential guide to family and medical leave
employee’s FMLA allotment. Although the employee may be entitled to take
more time off, the employee won’t necessarily be entitled to continued health
insurance if the state law doesn’t require it.
Adoption Leave Laws
A handful of states require employers to offer the same leave to adoptive
parents as to biological parents. Generally, these laws don’t require an
employer to offer parental leave. However, those employers that choose to
offer some form of parental leave must make it equally available to adoptive
parents. A couple of these states set an age limit: For example, New York
employers that provide parental leave must allow adoptive parents to use it,
but only if they are adopting a child who is no older than preschool age or, if
disabled, no older than 18.
The FMLA provides leave for adoption, so any time an employee takes off
pursuant to one of these state laws would also count as FMLA leave (and you
should designate it as such).
Small Necessities Laws
Some states require employers to allow time off for various family needs,
such as attending school functions, taking a child to routine dental or
medical appointments, or helping with eldercare. These laws have come to be
known as “small necessities” laws, to recognize needs that don’t take up much
time but are important to employees. Here are a few examples:
• In Illinois, employees can take up to eight hours off in any school
year—not to exceed four hours in a single day—to attend a child’s school
conferences or classroom activities, if those activities can’t be scheduled
during nonwork hours.
• In Washington, D.C., employees can take up to 24 hours off per year
to attend a child’s school-related events, including parent-teacher
association meetings, student performances, teacher conferences, and
sporting events—as long as the parent actually participates and is not
just a spectator.
• In Vermont, employees can take a total of 24 hours of leave per year for