VIII Family Medical Leave (FMLA)

1. Under the federal Family & Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) as amended, West Valley City Employees are eligible for FMLA leave if they:

a. Have worked for West Valley City for at least 12 months; and

b. Have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 calendar months immediately preceding the request for leave;

2. Employees with any questions about their eligibility for FMLA leave should contact Human Resources for more information.

1. Employees who meet the eligibility requirements described above are eligible to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during any rolling 12-month period for one of the following reasons:

a. To care for the employee’s son or daughter during the first 12 months following birth;

b. To care for a child during the first 12 months following placement with the employee for adoption or foster care;

c. To care for a spouse, son, daughter, or parent (“covered relation”) with a serious health condition;

d. For incapacity due to the employee’s pregnancy, prenatal medical or child birth; or

e. Because of the employee’s own serious health condition that renders the employee unable to perform an essential function of his or her position.

2. In cases where a married couple is employed by West Valley City, the two spouses together may take a combined total of 12 weeks’ leave during any 12-month period for reasons a and b, or to care for the same individual pursuant to reason c.

C. Military Family Leave: There are two types of Military Family Leave available:

1. Qualifying exigency leave: Employees meeting the eligibility requirements described above may be entitled to use up to 12 weeks of their Basic FMLA Leave for a qualifying exigency while the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent (the military member or member) is on covered active duty or call to covered active duty status (or has been notified of an impending call or order to covered active duty).

a. For Regular Armed Forces members, “covered active duty or call to covered active duty status” means duty during the deployment of the member with the Armed Forces to a foreign country (outside of the United States, the District of Columbia, or any territory or possession of the United States, including international waters).

b. For a member of the Reserve components of the Armed Forces (members of the National Guard and Reserves), “covered active duty or call to covered active duty status” means duty during the deployment of the member with the Armed Forces to a foreign country under a Federal call or order to active duty in support of a contingency operation.

i. Short-notice deployment (seven or less calendar days)

ii. Attending certain military events and related activities

iii. Childcare or school activities

iv. Addressing certain financial and legal arrangements

v. Periods of rest and recuperation for the military member (up to 15 calendar days of leave, dependent on orders)

vi. Attending certain counseling sessions

vii. Attending post-deployment activities (available for up to 90 days after the termination of the covered military member’s covered active duty status, and to address issues arising from death of military member)

viii. Attending to parental care needs arising from covered active duty or call to duty (arrange for alternative care for a parent of a military member, provide urgent or immediate care, admit or transfer to a care facility, or attend non-routine caregiver meetings with care facility staff)

ix. Other activities arising out of the military member’s covered active duty or call to active duty and agreed upon by Human Resources and the employee.

2. Leave to care for a covered servicemember: There is also a special leave entitlement that permits employees who meet the eligibility requirements for FMLA leave to take up to 26 weeks of leave during a single 12-month period if the employee is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin caring for a covered military servicemember or veteran recovering from a serious injury or illness, as defined by FMLA's regulations.

a. For a current member of the Armed Forces, including a member of the National Guard or Reserves, the member must be undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy, is otherwise in outpatient status; or is otherwise on the temporary disability retired list, for a serious injury or illness.

b. For a covered veteran, he or she must be undergoing medical treatment, recuperation or therapy for a serious injury or illness. Covered veteran means an individual who was a member of the Armed Forces (including a member of the National Guard or Reserves), and was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable at any time during the five-year period prior to the first date the eligible employee takes FMLA leave to care for the covered veteran.

c. An eligible employee must begin leave to care for a covered veteran within five years of the veteran’s active duty service, but the single 12-month period may extend beyond the five-year period.

An employee does not need to use this leave entitlement in one block. Leave can be taken intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule when medically necessary. Employees must make reasonable efforts to schedule leave for planned medical treatment so as not to unduly disrupt the City’s operations. Military Family Leave due to qualifying exigencies may also be taken on an intermittent basis. Leave may not be taken on an intermittent basis when used to care for the employee’s own child during the first year following birth, or to care for a child placed with the employee for foster care or adoption, unless both Human Resources and the employee agree to such intermittent leave.

1. FMLA is usually unpaid, but eligible employees must use earned but unused PTO, banked sick leave, and floating holidays. Employees who qualify for Short Term Disability Leave [STDL], will receive pay in accordance with the terms of the plan. Employees who qualify for Workers’ Compensation benefits will receive pay continuation according the requirements of state law. The Human Resource Office will provide the employee with a written explanation of the status of their pay and benefits at the start of the leave.

2. An employee on FMLA will be paid for the holiday (if available) while on leave.

3. FMLA is normally considered an unpaid leave. The intent of the regulation is to replace unpaid FMLA with paid FMLA in order to not delay the onset of FMLA. Since the City mandates the use of PTO, banked sick leave, Short Term Disability Leave and other accrued leave which may or will become available, FMLA will be taken concurrently with accrued leaves of pay. The only exception is if comp time is paid in lieu of overtime. The City will not force an employee to use comp time during FMLA.

1. During an approved family medical leave, the City will maintain the employee’s health benefits as if the employee continued to be actively employed. The City will deduct the employee’s portion of the health plan premium as a regular payroll deduction. If leave is unpaid, the employee must pay his or her portion.

2. An employee’s healthcare coverage will cease if the employee’s premium payment is more than 30 days late. If the employee elects not to return to work for at least 30 calendar days at the end of the leave period, the employee will be required to reimburse the City for the cost of the premiums paid by the City for maintaining coverage during the unpaid leave, unless the employee cannot return to work because of a serious health condition or other circumstances beyond the employee’s control.

1. If the need to use FMLA leave is foreseeable, the employee must give the City at least 30 days’ prior notice of the need to take leave. When 30 days’ notice is not possible, the employee must give notice as soon as practicable (within 1 or 2 business days of learning of the need for leave except in extraordinary circumstances). Failure to provide such notice may be grounds for delaying the start of the FMLA leave.

2. Whenever possible, requests for FMLA leave should be submitted to Human Resources using the request form provided.

3. If the need for leave is not foreseeable, employees are required to provide as much notice as soon as practicable. An employee requiring unforeseeable leave must, absent extraordinary circumstances, call his or her direct supervisor and provide sufficient information regarding the need for leave to support a request for FMLA leave. It generally should be practicable for the employee to provide notice of leave within one business day.

4. When submitting a request for leave, the employee must provide sufficient information for the City to determine if the leave might qualify as FMLA leave, and also provide information on the anticipated date when the leave would start as well as the duration of the leave. Calling in “sick” is not sufficient. Sufficient information may include that the employee is unable to perform job functions; that a family member is unable to perform daily activities; that the employee or family member needs hospitalization or continuing treatment by a healthcare provider; or the circumstances supporting the need for military family leave.

5. Employees also must inform the City if the requested leave is for a reason for which FMLA leave was previously taken or certified. Employees also will be required to provide a certification and periodic recertification supporting the need for leave.

6. West Valley City may “dock” the salary of exempt employees who work partial days due to intermittent or reduced schedule leave without negating exempt status under the FLSA.

The employee must notify HR of their intent to return to work two weeks prior to the anticipated date of return, or of any medically necessary changes in the date of return. If the leave was due to the employee’s own serious health condition, West Valley City may require a “fitness for duty” certification from the health care provider, verifying the employee’s ability to return to work, with or without restrictions. If the employee returns to work on or before the expiration of available FMLA, the employee will normally be returned to his/her former position or equivalent. If, however, the employee does not return prior to the expiration of FMLA, there is no guarantee of reinstatement. An absence for FMLA is not an occurrence for purposes of our attendance policy. If an employee is medically released to return to work and fails to either report to work or call in with a satisfactory explanation, the City will treat this as a voluntary resignation.