The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave

36 | the essential guide to family and medical leave
Chapter Highlights
Employees are entitled to FMLA leave if they:
• work for your company at a worksite with 50
or more employees within a 75-mile radius
• have worked for your company for at least
12 months, and
• have worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12-
month period preceding the leave.
You must determine whether there are 50
employees within 75 miles on the date the
employee requests leave—not the date the
employee’s leave is scheduled to begin.
These hours don’t count towards the
1,250-hour minimum:
• time spent on suspension
• travel time from home to work, and
• time on leave other than for military service
(unless your company counts leave time for
overtime purposes).
You must carefully track employees’ hours
to determine eligibility; if you don’t keep
accurate records, the employee’s records will
be used to resolve eligibility disputes.
Time that counts towards the 1,250-hour
minimum includes:
• any hours the employee worked, whether or
not paid
• work-related travel time during the workday
• continuing education or other required
work-related activities, and
• time spent on military leave.