FMLA applies to any private employer (as opposed to a government employer) which has 50 or more employees each working day during at least 20 calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year. FMLA also covers all state and local government agencies and offices as well as public and private schools. The government and education employers do not need 50 employees for the law to apply.
To be eligible for FMLA leave, you must:
• be employed by a “covered employer” (one of the employers described above);
• work at a worksite or office within 75 miles of which that employer employs at least 50 people;
• have worked at least 12 months (which do not have to be consecutive) for the employer; and
• have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months immediately before the date FMLA leave begins. The 1,250 hours include only those hours actually worked for the employer. Paid leave and unpaid leave, including FMLA leave, are not included. Your individual record of hours worked would be used to determine whether 1,250 hours had been worked in the 12 months prior to the commencement of FMLA leave.
In determining whether or not you have worked 1,250 hours, it may be helpful to consider whether or not you have:
• 24 hours worked in each of the 52 weeks of the year; or
• over 104 hours worked in each of the 12 months of the year; or
• 40 hours worked per week for more than 31 weeks (over seven months) of the year.
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Which Employers and Employees are Covered by FMLA?
