FMLA in Georgia: How to Request and Qualify for Leave

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law, so a worker in Georgia applies for FMLA leave under the same rules that apply across the country. Georgia has not enacted a separate state family-leave statute that adds to it, which means private-sector employees in the state rely on the federal entitlement enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. This article explains who is eligible, what the law covers, and the steps to request leave from a Georgia employer, from giving notice to returning the medical certification. It is one of the procedures covered in Georgia employment law.

Who qualifies for FMLA in Georgia

FMLA eligibility has two parts: the employer has to be covered, and the employee has to meet a service test. Both must be true before leave is protected.

An employer is covered if it is a private business that employs 50 or more people for at least 20 workweeks in the current or prior year, or if it is a public agency or public or private school, which are covered regardless of size. State and local government offices in Georgia are covered employers, as are the state’s public schools.

A worker at a covered employer is an eligible employee only if three conditions in 29 U.S.C. § 2611 are met: employment with that employer for at least 12 months, at least 1,250 hours of work during the 12 months before the leave starts, and a worksite where the employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles. The 12 months of employment do not have to be consecutive, though employment more than seven years earlier generally does not count.

What FMLA leave covers

An eligible employee is entitled to up to 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period. Under 29 U.S.C. § 2612, the qualifying reasons are the birth of a child and bonding within the first year, the placement of a child for adoption or foster care and bonding within the first year, a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to do the job, caring for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition, and certain needs arising from a family member’s military deployment.

A “serious health condition” means an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves inpatient care or continuing treatment by a health care provider. Routine short-term conditions such as a common cold generally do not qualify.

One reason carries a longer entitlement. An eligible employee caring for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness may take up to 26 workweeks of military caregiver leave in a single 12-month period, also under 29 U.S.C. § 2612.

Leave does not have to be taken all at once. When it is medically necessary, FMLA leave for a serious health condition can be taken intermittently or on a reduced work schedule, such as coming in late for ongoing treatment.

How to request leave from your employer

There is no government application to file for FMLA. You request it directly from your employer, and the process starts with notice. How much notice depends on whether the need for leave can be seen coming.

When the need is foreseeable, such as a scheduled surgery or an expected birth, 29 C.F.R. § 825.302 requires at least 30 days of advance notice. When 30 days is not practicable, or the need is unforeseeable, such as a sudden medical emergency, 29 C.F.R. § 825.303 requires notice as soon as practicable, which usually means the same day or the next business day after learning of the need.

1. Give notice to the right person

   Tell your supervisor or human resources that you need time off and roughly when and how long. For a first-time request you do not have to mention the FMLA by name or claim rights under it; you only have to give enough information for the employer to see that the leave may be FMLA-qualifying. Employers can require you to follow their usual call-in and leave-request procedures.

2. Provide enough detail for the employer to respond

   Explain the general reason, such as your own serious health condition, a family member’s condition, or a new child. The employer then has an obligation to tell you whether you are eligible and what your rights and responsibilities are.

3. Return any certification the employer requests

   If the leave is for a medical reason, the employer can require a medical certification from the health care provider. Complete and return it within the deadline the employer sets.

4. Wait for the designation notice

   The employer reviews the information and tells you in writing whether the leave is approved as FMLA and how much of your 12-week entitlement it will use.

Medical certification and the required forms

For leave based on a serious health condition, the employer may ask for a medical certification signed by the health care provider. The Department of Labor publishes optional model FMLA certification and notice forms that many Georgia employers use, though an employer may use its own version as long as it asks only for the information the regulations allow.

Under 29 C.F.R. § 825.305, the employer must allow at least 15 calendar days to return the certification. An employer cannot reject a complete and sufficient certification just because it is a copy, a fax, or is written on the provider’s own letterhead instead of the company form.

Two employer notices track the request. The Eligibility and Rights and Responsibilities Notice (form WH-381) tells the employee whether they are eligible and what obligations apply. The Designation Notice (form WH-382) states whether the leave is approved as FMLA and how much leave will count against the entitlement. Completed certifications go to the employer, not to the Department of Labor.

Pay, benefits, and getting your job back

FMLA leave is unpaid. An employee may choose, or an employer may require, that accrued paid time off run at the same time as FMLA leave so that part of the time off is paid. Georgia does not require private employers to provide paid family or medical leave, so whether any of the leave is paid depends on the employer’s own policy.

During the leave, the employer must keep the employee’s group health insurance in place on the same terms as if the employee were still working. When the leave ends, 29 U.S.C. § 2614 entitles the employee to return to the same job or an equivalent one with the same pay, benefits, and conditions.

Although Georgia follows at-will employment, which generally lets an employer end a job for any lawful reason, FMLA is a federal exception during the protected period. An employer cannot use the leave itself as a negative factor in decisions about the job. ## If your employer denies leave or retaliates FMLA makes it unlawful for an employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of FMLA rights, and to fire or discipline an employee for requesting or taking protected leave. Denying leave to an eligible employee, or counting the leave against an attendance policy, can be a form of interference. An employee who believes a Georgia employer has violated the FMLA can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, which enforces the law, or file a private lawsuit. A firing tied to protected leave can also support a claim for wrongful termination in Georgia when the termination violates the statute.