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FMLA after return to work
I took 8 weeks of leave, and I know we are all granted 12 weeks of leave by law in a 12 month period. If I want to take a week off at Christmas, but I don't have the vacation time but I have personal time, can I use FMLA for the week?
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Re: FMLA after return to work
FMLA can protect your job for UP TO 12 weeks. If before your leave you asked to take the full 12 weeks and approved then that would be great, if not, many companies require you to return to work after you are medically released (6 weeks vaginal, 8 weeks c-section).
Since you already returned to work you can only use your remaining FMLA weeks if you or an immediate family member actually have a medical issue that you are required to be out of work for.
I'm not sure what you mean by having no vacation time but having personal time?
That aside - I'm not certain, but double check with your HR department to see if you still have 4 weeks of bonding time under FMLA left to use after the birth of your child (I'm assuming you had your child this year?). That might be a way to use the FMLA legitimately, but it would be unpaid. But, aside from what's allowed by law, if others have already requested the week of Christmas off, I'm not sure I'd want to generate ill will with my coworkers if my company HAD to let me take FMLA and it, therefore, affected someone else's prior request for vacation. Just something to think about.
No.
You can't take FMLA, come back to work per your regular schedule, then go out again on the same FMLA. That's not how it works. It's not vacation time - it's FAMILY MEDICAL leave. Your FMLA ended once you returned to work per your normal schedule.
To use FMLA again, you will have to get a new Dr. note requesting it.
Can't you just use your personal time for vacation? I've been earning comp time when I can, and I can use this to cover whatever I want, sick leave, vacation, business day, it's just marked as earned comp time on my time sheet.
One of my coworkers only wanted to take 8 weeks off post baby. She wanted to take a full month off before the baby was born with no reason given by the dr. HR and the director of our dept said no, she could take a week off prior to her due date, not a month.
Another co worker had a premie. She came back 6 weeks pp for about a month, then when the baby came home from the NICU, she took the rest of 6 weeks. She was approved.
So YES, you can return to work then take the rest of your FMLA, but I think it needs to be approved and a reason needs to be given though.
I think you shoulkd be able to take the rest of the 4 weeks as bonding time. Directly from the US Dept of Labor Website:
Eligible employees are entitled to:
It does not specify that the time has to be continuous.
Right, for cases like NICU babies coming home (as pointed out by a pp) or a health problem that occurs later.
But it's still not vacation time to use because you don't have any PTO. Unless her child got sick and needs a caregiver, asking for time off during the holidays is not FMLA eligible.
I'm not sure what you mean by "we" in your original post. If you mean everyone at your company, you're fine. FMLA is generally not a bank of vacation days to use at your convenience, but if your employer allows it to be used that way then more power to you.
If by "we" you mean Americans, then you've been misinformed. Smaller companies aren't subject to FMLA, and new employees don't qualify.