Ashlyn B. Lindskog, Attorney

Employers take note! You may be aware that the FMLA provides eligible employees with 12 weeks of unpaid, job protected leave when there is a new child or baby in the household, but did you know that leave may be taken at any time during the child’s first year of life? Covered employers should be aware of the following considerations when reviewing FMLA requests from employees:

• A new parent may take up to 12 weeks of continuous leave immediately after the birth or placement of the child or choose to take leave months later. The choice of timing is up to the employee.
• This means that a mother or father may be allowed to take FMLA leave months after the child is born.
• If the mother and the father are not legally married, the father’s leave may be split, with some time allocated toward helping the mother recover and the remainder designated as “bonding” time.
• If the parents of the new child work for the same employer, they may be required to share the 12 weeks of FMLA available for the birth of placement of that child.
• Additionally, FMLA does not prohibit an employee from working another, similar job while on FMLA leave unless the employer has a uniformly-applied policy governing supplemental employment.
• If an employer does not have a policy that addresses this, it may want to consider adding reference to it in its FMLA policy or adopting a separate policy.