Employee Handbook

Section 6 — Time Away from Work

Eligibility

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law providing employees the right to take a leave of absence for family or medical reasons while maintaining job protection. Under this policy, the City of West Des Moines will grant up to 12 weeks (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. In order to qualify for the leave, an employee must meet the following conditions:

1. Worked for the City at least 12 months cumulatively and have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period preceding the date the FMLA is to begin.

2. Have a remaining balance of Family Medical Leave Time (as defined under “Determining Length of Leave”).  

Qualifying Event

An eligible employee may take Family and Medical Leave for one or more of the following qualifying reasons:

1. The birth of a child or placement of a child for adoption or foster care;

2. To bond with a child (leave must be taken within one year of the child’s birth or placement);

3. The care of the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a qualifying serious health condition (excludes in-laws);

4. The employee’s own serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the employee’s job;

5. For Qualifying Exigency related to the foreign deployment of a Military Member who is the employee’s spouse, child, or parent;  

6. Military caregiver leave (also known as Covered Service Member leave) to care for an ill or injured covered service member. A Covered Service Member is a current member of the Armed Forces, including a member of the National Guard or Reserves, who is the spouse, child, of a parent or Next of Kin of the eligible employee. Leave may be taken to care for the Covered Service Member who is recovering from a serious illness or injury which was sustained or aggravated in the line of duty or active duty. This leave may extend up to 26 weeks in a single 12-month period.

·        Military caregiver leave runs concurrently with other FMLA leave.

·        Spouses employed by the City are jointly entitled to a combined total of 26 weeks of military caregiver leave.

Serious Health Condition

A “serious health condition” is defined by the Department of Labor and will generally mean an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition involving inpatient or continuing treatment by a health care provider. A chronic or long-term health condition, if left untreated, would result in a period of incapacity of more than three working days or which may cause episodic rather than a continuing period of incapacity is also considered a serious health condition. It will be the responsibility of human resources to determine whether a condition meets the standards set by the Department of Labor.

This policy covers illnesses of a serious and long-term nature, resulting in recurring or lengthy absences. Generally, a chronic or long-term health condition resulting in a period of three consecutive days of incapacity with the first visit to the health care provider within seven days of the onset of the incapacity and a second visit within 30 days of the incapacity would be considered a serious health condition. For chronic conditions requiring periodic health care visits for treatment, such visits must take place at least twice a year.

Determining Length of Leave

An eligible employee can take up to 12 weeks for the FMLA circumstances (1) through (5) above under this policy during any 12-month period. The 12-month period is measured from the first date any leave under this policy is taken and goes backward from that date 12 months.

An eligible employee can take up to 14 weeks of additional leave during a single 12-month period (for a total of 26 weeks if combined with other FMLA leave) for circumstance (6) above (military caregiver leave).

Although not required by law, when both husband and wife work for the City and both want to take leave, they are each entitled to 12 weeks for the qualifying reasons stated in the “Qualifying Event” section.

Request for Leave

Requests for Family Medical Leave must be designated on your Leave Request Form, providing as much notice as practical in cases of medical emergency or other unforeseen events. When the leave is foreseeable (such as a planned medical treatment or the birth of a child), the Leave Request Form is to be submitted at least 30 calendar days in advance. The HR Department will provide the employee with notice of the employee’s eligibility and rights.  

When medically necessary, the schedule of leave for serious health conditions may be continuous, intermittent (periodic) or a reduced work schedule of partial days or weeks. Only the period of absence will be covered by Family Medical Leave.  

Leave for adoptions, foster care, birth and the care of a newborn child must be taken in continuous work weeks unless the employee and the supervisor mutually agree to a different schedule. The City and the employee must mutually agree to the schedule before the employee may take the leave intermittently or work a reduced schedule.

In the event that a leave is used to Qualifying Exigency, the employee shall provide as much notice as is reasonable and practical under the circumstances.

The employee must make reasonable efforts to schedule leave for planned medical treatment so as to not unduly disrupt the City's operations.

In the absence of the employee requesting leave, the City has the right to designate any eligible employee’s leave qualifying absence as part of an employee’s 12-week entitlement of FMLA.

If an employee knows his or her leave will extend beyond the 12 weeks (or up to 26 weeks) allowed by federal law, he or she should request an extension (as explained under 4.13 Leave of Absence) at the time the FMLA request is filed.  

Certification Requirements

A FMLA Certification of Health Care Provider Form (Employee) or (Family Member) should be submitted to Human Resources.  

An employee may be required to submit subsequent certifications no more frequently than every 30 calendar days, unless an extension or modification of leave is required, changed circumstances occur regarding the serious health condition, or information arises that questions the validity of the earlier certification. If the medical condition lasts more than one year the employee will be required to submit updated medical paperwork yearly.

The City reserves the right to obtain, at its expense, a second opinion from a health care provider designated by the City. If the second opinion differs from the opinion in the original certification, the City may require that a third opinion be obtained at the City’s expense from a mutually agreed on health care provider. Such opinions shall be fixed and binding. The employee’s own physician may be present, at the employee’s expense, to observe the second or third opinions.

In the case of the employee’s own serious health condition, the employee may be required, on or before the date he or she returns to work, to provide a certification from a health care provider confirming the employee is able to return to work and perform the essential functions of the position.

An employee’s return to work may be delayed or denied if the appropriate documentation is not provided in a timely manner. Failure to provide requested documentation of the reason for an absence from work may lead to disciplinary action, including termination of employment.  

Certification of Qualifying Exigency for Military Family Leave

The City will require certification of the Military Member's Rest and Recuperation leave orders or other documentation issued by the military setting forth the dates of the Military Member's leave. The employee must respond to such a request within 15 days of the request or provide a reasonable explanation for the delay. Failure to provide certification may result in a denial of the leave.

Certification for Serious Injury or Illness of Covered Service Member for Military Family Leave

The City will require certification for the Serious Injury or Illness of the Military Member. The employee must respond to such a request within 15 days of the request or provide a reasonable explanation for the delay. Failure to provide certification may result in a denial of continuation of leave. The City will not seek a second opinion if the original healthcare provider was affiliated with the military.

Use of Paid and Unpaid Leave

If the employee has accrued paid leave (such as sick days, vacation or personal days) the employee must use paid leave first and take the remainder of the 12 weeks as unpaid leave, as stipulated below. The substitution of paid leave for unpaid leave does not extend the 12-week leave period.

An employee taking leave because of the employee’s serious health condition may use sick leave, and then paid vacation, personal days and/or Compensatory Time (Comp Time).

An employee taking leave because of a serious health condition of a Son or Daughter, spouse or parent may use sick leave (as stated in Section 6.4, or as designated in the appropriate union contract), paid vacation, personal days, and/or Compensatory Time (Comp Time).

An employee taking leave for pregnancy or childbirth may use paid parental leave or paid sick leave for the physical recovery following the child’s birth (typically six weeks), then may take paid vacation, personal days and/or Compensatory Time (Comp Time). Employees will be required to provide medical certification stating that the employee is not able to reasonably perform the duties of employment in order to receive more than six and up to eight weeks of pregnancy related leave. In accordance with the Iowa Code 216.6(2)(e), an employee who is disabled by the pregnancy will receive a leave of absence if the leave of absence is for the period that the employee is disabled because of the employee’s pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, or for eight weeks, whichever is less.

An employee taking child care leave for the birth, adoption or foster care of a child may use paid parental leave, then may use sick time accrual, paid vacation, personal days and/or Compensatory Time (Comp Time).

An employee who is using military FMLA leave for a Qualifying Exigency must use all paid vacation and personal leave prior to being eligible for unpaid leave. An employee using FMLA military caregiver leave must also use all paid sick leave (as long as the reason for the absence is covered by the City’s sick leave policy), vacation, personal leave prior to being eligible for unpaid leave.

See also Section 6.4, Paid Sick Leave.

See also Section 6.13, Paid Parental Leave.

Effects on Benefits - Insurance

The City will continue to pay the employer’s portion of the group health and dental coverage premiums for the duration of the Family Medical Leave for covered employees. If applicable, premiums will automatically be deducted from the employee’s paycheck as long as the leave is paid.

During the weeks of unpaid leave, employees are required to pay their portion of all benefit premiums (medical, dental, life, long term disability, and so forth as appropriate) by the first of each month that premiums would have been deducted or paid.  

If an employee’s portion of the premium payment is more than 30 days overdue, the City may cease to maintain the employee’s insurance benefits. The employer will provide 15 days' notification prior to the employee's loss of coverage. Employees may seek reinstatement when they return to duty, with qualifications outlined in the Plan Document.

If an employee chooses not to return to work for reasons other than a continued serious health condition of the employee, spouse, parent, or Son or Daughter due to circumstances beyond the control of the employee, the City will require the employee to reimburse the City the amount it paid for the employee’s health insurance premium during the unpaid leave period.

Effects on Benefits; Benefit Accruals

While an employee is on paid leave, the City will continue to provide benefit accruals consistent with City policy. The City will compensate for paid holidays during paid leaves, as long as the employee is in a paid leave status the day preceding the holiday. Employees will not accrue benefits during unpaid leave.

Outside Employment

An employee must notify the City Manager when seeking outside employment while on Family Medical Leave.

Return from Leave

While on leave, employees are required to report to their respective department directors should the status of their leave requests change.  

An employee who returns from a Family Medical Leave will return to the same job or a job with equivalent status, pay, benefits and other employment terms. The position will be the same or one that entails substantially equivalent skills, effort, responsibility and authority. An employee is entitled to reinstatement only if he or she would have continued to be employed had the Family Medical Leave not been taken.  

If the employee does not return to work following the conclusion of the Family Medical Leave, the employee will be considered to have voluntarily resigned.

Additional Information

A fact sheet about the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), authored by the Department of Labor, is available upon request through the Human Resources Department.

See also Section 6.11, Leave of Absence.

See also Section 6.9, Employee Leave Transfer.

Employee Rights and Responsibilities