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Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

Purpose

The New School will comply with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) implementing Regulations as revised effective October 28, 2009. The FMLA poster provided by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is available below.
DOL_-_FMLA_Notification_Poster.pdf (displayed below)
DOL_-_FMLA_Notification_Poster_-_Spanish.pdf

The function of this policy is to provide employees with a general description of their FMLA rights. In the event of any conflict between this policy and the applicable law, employees will be afforded all rights required by law.

Under this policy, The New School will grant up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave (or up to 26 weeks of military caregiver leave to care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness) during a 12-month period to eligible employees. The leave may be paid, unpaid or a combination of paid and unpaid, depending upon the circumstances of the leave and as specified in this policy.

Eligibility

To qualify to take family or medical leave under this policy, the employee must meet all of the following conditions:

The employee must be a full-time or part-time administrative staff member or full-time faculty. Part-time faculty are not eligible for FMLA.
The employee must have worked for The New School for 12 months or 52 weeks. The 12 months or 52 weeks need not have been consecutive. Separate periods of employment will be counted, provided that the break in service does not exceed seven years. Separate periods of employment will be counted if the break in service exceeds seven years due to National Guard or Reserve military service obligations or when there is a written agreement, including a collective bargaining agreement, stating the University’s intention to rehire the employee after the service break. For eligibility purposes, an employee will be considered to have been employed for an entire week even if the employee was on the payroll for only part of a week or if the employee is on leave during the week.
The employee must have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period immediately before the commencement of leave. The university counts paid and unpaid leave hours as hours worked for determining whether 1,250 hours have been worked.
The employee must work in a worksite where 50 or more employees are employed by The New School within 75 miles of that office or worksite. The distance is to be calculated by using available transportation by the most direct route.

Type of Leave Covered

To qualify as FMLA leave under this policy, the employee must be taking leave for one of the reasons listed below. See FMLA - Terminology for definitions.

Type of Leave	Maximum Amount of Leave
1) For incapacity due to pregnancy or prenatal medical care.	12 weeks/12-month period
2) To care for the employee's child after birth or placement for adoption or foster care.	12 weeks/12-month period FMLA leave for birth, placement for adoption, or placement for foster care must be taken within 12 months of the FMLA event.
3) For an employee's serious health condition that prevents the employee from performing their job. Certification of serious health condition required.	12 weeks/12-month period The FMLA period runs concurrently with an approved short-term disability period.
4) To care for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition. Certification of serious health condition required.	12 weeks/12-month period
5) Qualifying exigency leave for families of members of the National Guard or Reserves or of a regular component of the Armed Forces when the covered military member is on covered active duty or called to covered active duty. Certification of qualifying exigency required.	12 weeks/12-month period The leave may commence as soon as the individual receives the call-up notice.
6) Military caregiver leave (also known as Covered Service Member Leave) to care for an injured or ill son, daughter, parent or next of kin* who is a covered service member or veteran. Certification of "serious illness or injury" required.	26 weeks/12-month period

*Next of kin is defined as the closest blood relative of the injured or recovering service member.

Amount of Leave

The maximum amount of leave for each circumstance is indicated in the above table. The first 40 hours of an approved unpaid Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) will be paid out as New York City Sick Leave per the Paid NYC Safe and Sick Leave Law.

The New School will measure the 12-month period as a rolling 12-month period measured backward from the date an employee uses any leave under this policy. Each time an employee takes leave, The New School will compute the amount of leave the employee has taken under this policy in the last 12 months and subtract it from the 12 weeks of available leave, and the balance remaining is the amount the employee is entitled to take at that time.

An eligible employee can take up to 26 weeks for Military Caregiver Leave (#6 above) during a single 12-month period. The New School will measure the 12-month period as a rolling 12-month period measured forward. FMLA leave already taken for other FMLA circumstances will be deducted from the total of 26 weeks available.

If a married couple, or two people who are in a qualified domestic partner relationship, both work for The New School and each wishes to take leave for the birth of a child, adoption or placement of a child in foster care, or to care for a parent (but not a parent "in-law") with a serious health condition, the couple, as defined above, may only take a combined total of 12 weeks of leave. If each wishes to take leave to care for a covered injured or ill service member, they may only take a combined total of 26 weeks of leave.

Procedure for Requesting FMLA Leave

All employees requesting FMLA leave must provide verbal or written notice of the need for the leave by contacting the University’s Benefits Office at benefitshelp@newschool.edu or by calling 212-229-5671 x4942. A request should also be submitted in MyDay (Workday) by following the procedures to Request Leave of Absence.

When the need for the leave is foreseeable, the employee must provide the University with at least 30 days' notice. When an employee becomes aware of a need for FMLA leave less than 30 days in advance, the employee must provide notice of the need for the leave either the same day or the next business day after they become aware of it. When the need for FMLA leave is not foreseeable, the employee must comply with The New School’s usual and customary notice and procedural requirements for requesting leave, absent unusual circumstances.

Certification of condition or situation may be required. See FMLA - Certification and Recertification of Eligibility for information and copies of required forms. Employees must respond to such a request within 15 days of the request or provide a reasonable explanation for the delay.

Employees may take consecutive leave of 12 or 26 weeks as outlined above, or may use the leave intermittently. See FMLA - Intermittent Leave or a Reduced Work Schedule for additional information. FMLA leave is unpaid - see FMLA - Use of Paid and Unpaid Leave for details.

Additional FMLA Information

Please contact the University's Benefits Office if you have any questions, concerns, or disputes with this policy.

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