What Happens When You Take FMLA During The Holidays?
The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) gives you time off work to care for family concerns. You may need to take FMLA during a holiday, though. What happens then?
Is the Holiday Counted as one of your FMLA Days?
You are entitled to receive a total of 12 workweeks of FMLA leave per year, according to FMLA regulations. Most employers calculate the time in days or hours as they comply with the workweek regulation.
To understand if holidays count toward your FMLA total time, consider these scenarios.
- You take off a full workweek of FMLA and a holiday you are not scheduled to work occurs during that week. Your entire leave is counted against FMLA.
- You take a partial workweek off for intermittent FMLA leave, including a holiday you normally would receive off. The holiday will not count as FMLA.
- You take partial workweek of FMLA, including a holiday that you are normally scheduled to work. Your holiday is counted towards FMLA.
- You take an FMLA day during a holiday week. The FMLA day carries a heavier-than-normal weight and counts as one-fourth of the week rather than one-fifth because you would only work four days rather than five that week.
- You take one or a few FMLA days off during a holiday week, but your work schedule varies each week. Your employer will average your weekly work hours over 12 months to determine how much FMLA you officially used.
- You take a continuous FMLA leave that occurs when your office or company is closed for an extended break around the holidays and you are not expected to report to work. The days of the extended break do not count toward your FMLA total.
Can you Receive Regular Holiday Pay While on FMLA?
FMLA regulations and your employer’s policy determine if you can receive holiday pay while on FMLA leave. The biggest factor is whether or not you would have received holiday pay if you were not on FMLA leave. For example, your employer requires you to meet one of two conditions before they administer holiday pay.
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Work the days before and after a holiday.
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Use paid time off for the day before and/or after the holiday, such as a vacation or PTO day but not unpaid time off.
In both of these cases, you will receive holiday pay during your FMLA if the FMLA leave is paid. However, you will not receive holiday pay if your FMLA leave is unpaid.
FMLA allows you to care for your family. Talk to your FMLA contact at work to ensure you get the time off you need and the holiday time off and pay to which you’re entitled.