Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires covered employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year to eligible employees for certain family and medical reasons. The 12 weeks can be either continuous or intermittent.

Upon return from FMLA leave, employees must be restored to their original or an equivalent position with equivalent pay and benefits.

When foreseeable, employees shall give at least thirty (30) calendar days advance notice. When the need for FMLA leave is not foreseeable, an employee should give UTRGV notice that leave is needed as soon as practicable, preferably the same day or next business day of when the employee learns of the need for leave.

Eligibility

  • Employees are eligible if they have worked for the University or another state agency for at least one year and no less than 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months.
  • Eligible employees are entitled to take up to 12 work weeks of family leave during any 12-month period measured backward.
  • Eligible employees must apply for FMLA is they are absent or anticipate an absence from work for three or more calendar days due to their own illness, injury, or pregnancy or that of a qualified family member.
  • Employees are required to use all accrued paid leave while on FMLA except when receiving
    workers’ compensation income benefits. 
  • When an employee is out on FMLA, UTRGV will continue to pay its portion of the premium sharing for benefits. This also applies for employees out on Leave Without Pay under FMLA. 

Military Caregiver Leave Under the FMLA - Eligibility

  • Employees with a spouse, son, daughter, or parent on active duty or call to active duty status in the National Guard or Reserves in support of a contingency operation may use their 12-week leave entitlement to address certain qualifying exigencies.
  • When the need for the leave is foreseeable employees shall give at least thirty (30) calendar days advance notice. When it is not foreseeable, an employee should give UTRGV notice that leave is needed as soon as practicable, preferably the same day or next business day of when the employee learns of the need for leave.
  • HOP ADM 04-609 - Military Caregiver Leave Under the FMLA
  • Special Leave Entitlement – Caring for Service Member
  • Eligible employees can take up to 26 weeks of leave to care for a covered service member during a single 12-month period measured backward.

Parental Leave - Eligibility

  • Applies to a full-time benefits-eligible employee who has been employed for fewer than 12 months or who worked fewer than 1,250 hours during the 12-month period preceding the beginning of leave.
  • Parental Leave provides eligible employees unpaid protected leave not to exceed 12 weeks for the birth of a natural child or for the adoption or foster care placement of children under three years of age.
  • Employees must first use all available and applicable paid leave while taking Parental leave, and the remainder is unpaid.
  • The leave authorized by this section is limited to, begins on the date of, the birth of a child of the employee or the adoption by/or foster care placement.

How to apply:

  • Instructions on how to apply for Extended Absence Request in PeopleSoft, please use the PDF below
  • You will need to submit to the Office of Human Resources the following forms if applying for FMLA: FMLA Request form and Healthcare Provider Certification
  • You will need to submit to the Office of Human Resources the following forms if applying for Parental leave: Leave Notification and Request Form and Doctors documentation