The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave

chapter 4 | leave for a serious health condition | 59
Covered,” below) and more serious problems that are obviously protected
(like a terminal illness or required surgery).
To figure out whether an ailment fits into this category, you must
understand how to measure the three-day requirement, who qualifies as a
health care provider, and what constitutes continuing treatment.
The Three-Day Requirement
To qualify under this category, the employee (or employee’s family member)
must be incapacitated for more than three consecutive days. These three days
must be consecutive, but they need not be business days: An employee who
is incapacitated for Friday through Monday would qualify, for example.
It’s not entirely clear what constitutes “more than” three days. Some courts
have found that an employee must be incapacitated for at least four days to
qualify; others have found that an employee who is sick for any more than
72 hours is covered. Because of this confusion, the best practice is to assume
that an employee who is incapacitated for more than 72 hours is covered.
Who Is a Health Care Provider?
Health care providers are defined quite broadly by the FMLA. They include
not only medical doctors, but also:
• doctors of osteopathy
• podiatrists
• dentists
• optometrists
• chiropractors (only for manual manipulation of the spine to treat a subluxation
of the spine—that is, misalignment of vertebrae—identified by x-ray)
• clinical psychologists
• nurse providers
• nurse midwives
• clinical social workers, and
• Christian Science providers.
(See 29 CFR § 825.118.)