Types of Leave

• Leaves of absence may be taken all at once or sporadically. For example, an employee may take one block of time from work and return full-time to her office once she has made a full recovery. Or, in the case of an intermittent FMLA leave, an employee may spend two weeks away from work for surgery and then return full-time but require weekly physical therapy appointments. Her physical therapy sessions would be covered under FMLA. A third option is for a worker to reduce his hours to accommodate his recovery. An employee might be off work for three weeks and then return for only five hours each workday for two additional weeks.
  
  

Eligibility

• An employee who requests an intermittent FMLA leave must meet certain eligibility guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Labor. These include having worked for a covered employer for at least 12 months and for a minimum of 1,250 hours during the previous 12 months. The employer must have at least 50 employees.
  
  

Qualifying Conditions

• FMLA may be granted for the birth or adoption of a child. In other instances, the employee may need to be absent from work because a health condition precludes him from being able to perform his job duties. Or, the person may need time off to care for a spouse, child or parent who suffers from a medical ailment or injury. A doctor must certify that the employee's or family member's condition warrants time away from work.
  
  

Compensation

• A company may require its employees to use their vacation and sick time for FMLA time away from work. Once those days are exhausted, the employee is on an unpaid leave of absence.
  
  

Reasonable Effort

• An employee who takes an intermittent leave of absence is expected to make every effort to schedule her time off without disrupting her company's routine flow of business. Ideally, he should give at least 30 days notice that he will be absent from work.