Family and Medical Leave

The Family and Medical Leave Acts, both the federal FMLA and the District of Columbia (DC) FMLA, provide unpaid, job-protected leave to eligible employees who need leave due to certain family and medical situations. FMLA leave can be requested to cover a continuous period of time, intermittently (PDF) or on a reduced work schedule. Paid time off can be used during FMLA to retain paid status.

Review the Time Off and Leave Guide for details about FMLA, including eligibility, coordination with paid time off, employee rights and responsibilities and more.

Eligibility

To qualify for family or medical leave, you must meet certain conditions:

You must be a GW employee*, as defined by federal and/or DC FMLA.
You must have worked at the university for a period totaling 12 months. Periods of employment prior to a break in service of less than seven years are allowed to count towards eligibility.
Under the DC FMLA, you must have worked at least 1,000 hours during your prior 12 month period of employment with the university. These 12 months do not need to be consecutive but need to be within the past 7 years.
Under the federal FMLA, you must have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 month period immediately preceding the beginning of your leave.

Federal FMLA and DC FMLA run concurrently and cannot be used consecutively if leave is covered under both laws.

*Employees with work locations outside of DC may be eligible for their state’s FMLA leave program.

Protecting Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PPWFA)

If ineligible for FMLA, employees who need to take continuous or intermittent medical leave due to pregnancy or childbirth can apply for leave under the District of Columbia’s Protecting Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PPWFA). Requests for continuous or intermittent leave under the PPWFA are processed through Lincoln Financial.

Note: Requests for workplace accommodations under the PPWFA such as flexible work arrangements, lactation breaks, lifting restrictions, etc. are still administered through the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Access. The EEOA office can be reached at [email protected] or 202-994-9656.

Entitlements

Qualifying reasons under the FMLA include:

The birth, adoption or foster care placement of a child
The employee’s own serious health condition
The care of a family member who has a serious health condition

The federal FMLA also permits eligible employees to take military family leave for:

A qualifying exigency related to the fact that the employee’s spouse, child or parent is on or has been called to active duty
The care of a covered service member or veteran with a serious injury or illness incurred in the line of active duty

Under the DC FMLA, eligible employees are permitted up to 16 workweeks of family leave and 16 workweeks of medical leave during a 24-month period.

Under the federal FMLA, eligible employees are permitted up to a total of 12 workweeks of family and medical leave during a 12-month period or up to 26 workweeks during a single 12-month period for military caregiver leave. An eligible employee is limited to a combined total of 26 workweeks of leave for any federal FMLA-qualifying reason during the “single 12-month period.

Intermittent Leave

FMLA leave can be taken on a continuous or intermittent basis.

Intermittent absences for bonding

Intermittent or reduced schedule leave to care for or bond with a newborn child or for a newly placed adopted or foster child may only be taken intermittently with department approval* and must conclude within 12 months after the birth or placement.

Requests for intermittent FMLA family leave must be scheduled at least 30 days in advance and requested in writing (PDF) at time of FMLA application.

*Note: the manager’s approval is neither required for intermittent leave due to the serious health condition of the mother or child nor for continuous family leave for bonding following birth or placement, or for any other FMLA qualifying reasons.

Intermittent absences for own health or family care

When it is medically necessary, employees may take FMLA leave intermittently (in separate blocks of time) or a on reduced work schedule for their own health reason or while taking care of a family member. When leave is needed for planned medical treatment, the employee must make a reasonable effort to schedule treatment so as not to unduly disrupt the employer’s operation.

When taking an intermittent absence, employees are required to both:

Follow their normal departmental call out procedures. The employee’s manager can provide those procedures, if needed. Employees should not provide medical information to their manager.
Notify Lincoln Financial (PDF) of the FMLA absence within 7 days of the absence. Please review the instructions for reporting intermittent FMLA absences for further details.

If these absence reporting procedures are not followed, the absences will not be approved for job-protected leave.

Coordination with Paid Time Off

FMLA provides job protection; however, it does not provide pay.

Employees can elect to use their available vacation* and sick time during approved FMLA leave to remain in paid status.
Paid benefit programs such as GW Paid STD and Staff Paid Parental Leave can run concurrently with FMLA leave.
Employees can elect to take FMLA unpaid.

*Note, if an employee used vacation time in excess of the accrued amount at the time of separation, the excess days must be repaid to the university.

Benefits Continuation

Employees may choose to either continue or cancel eligible benefits during unpaid leave. Benefits continuation (PDF) varies between the leaves of absence.

Employees can cancel benefits during unpaid leave in bswift, the university’s benefits enrollment system. Please note that cancelation of any of voluntary life or disability benefits (e.g., optional employee or spouse life, voluntary short-term disability, etc.). Evidence of Insurability (EOI) may be required to re-enroll in those benefits upon returning to work.

Premium Remittance

If continuing benefits during unpaid leave, employees will need to pay their benefits premiums through bswift, GW's benefits enrollment system. If applicable, bswift will provide instructions on how to log into the billing account in order to remit payment for benefits premiums due during unpaid leave.

Please note if benefits premiums are not paid, benefits may be canceled effective the end of the month following the last payment or deduction.

Returning to Work

Employees should contact their manager and Benefits prior to returning to work from a leave of absence. Failure to provide timely notice of returning may negatively affect payroll and benefits processing as well as delay the restoration of university systems access.

Fitness for Duty

Employees out on FMLA leave for their own serious health condition are required to present an authorization to return to work (PDF) prior to reinstatement. If such authorization is not received in a timely fashion, the employee's return to work may be delayed until authorization is provided.

Employees who are able to return to work with restrictions or workplace accommodations need to be cleared by the EEOA office prior to reinstatement. Employees should contact the EEOA office at (202) 994-9656 or [email protected] to discuss the returning to work with restrictions process.

Benefits Enrollment

Upon return to active employment, employees may re-enroll in any canceled benefits within 30 calendar days of returning to work via the benefits enrollment system. If no election is made, the next opportunity to enroll will be during open enrollment or within 30 calendar days of a Qualified Life Event .

How to Apply

Lincoln Financial administers most university leave and disability programs for GW including FMLA, USERRA, Staff Paid Parental leave, Resident Paid Family and Medical Leave, PPWFA leave as well as short-term and long-term disability.

Reporting Requirements

Claims and leaves should be reported to Lincoln Financial either online or by calling (800) 213-5609 at least 30 days in advance of a planned absence, or as soon as possible for an unplanned absence.
Employees should also notify their manager and HR representative of the need to take FMLA leave but should not provide any private medical information.