General Lab Information

Absence Management

Family and Medical Leave

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows eligible employees to take job-protected, unpaid leave, or to substitute appropriate paid leave for up to a total of 12 weeks in a 12-month period. FMLA leave is granted for the birth of a child, adoption or foster care of a child, to care for a family member (child, spouse or parent) with a serious health condition, or due to the employee's own serious health condition, or qualifying exigency.

Eligibility

To be eligible for FMLA, an employee must be employed by Brookhaven Science Associates (BSA) for at least 12 months and have completed at least 1,250 hours of service for BSA during the 12-month period immediately preceding the leave.

Period of Leave

Eligible employees may take up to 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month rolling backwards period for one or more of the following reasons.

  • The birth of a son or daughter or placement of a son or daughter with the employee for adoption or foster care;
  • To care for a spouse, son, daughter, or parent who has a serious health condition;
  • For a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform functions of his or her own job; Eligible employees who are out for their own serious health condition must apply for FMLA after 5 consecutive days of absence.
  • For any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that a spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a military member on covered active duty or call to covered active duty status.

An eligible employee may also take up to 26 workweeks of leave during a single 12-month rolling backwards period to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness, when the employee is the spouse, son, daughter, parent or next of kin of the servicemember. The single 12-month rolling backwards period for military caregiver leave is different from the 12-month rolling backwards period used for other FMLA leave reasons.

Spouses employed by BSA are limited to a combined total of 12 workweeks of family leave for the following reasons.

  • Birth or care of a child;
  • Placement of a child for adoption or foster care, and to care for the newly placed child.

Under some circumstances, employees may take FMLA leave on an intermittent or reduced schedule basis.