How to Apply for FMLA Leave in New York

FMLA is a federal law, so New York workers apply under the same rules as employees in every other state. This article explains who qualifies, how to request leave from a New York employer, what forms and medical certification are involved, and how New York’s own paid-leave programs fit alongside it. It covers the general procedure; individual employers can layer their own written call-in rules on top of the federal minimum. The broader wage, leave, and termination rules that apply across the state are set out in New York employment law.

What FMLA leave covers in New York

The Family and Medical Leave Act is administered by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, and it applies to covered New York employers on the same terms as anywhere else. FMLA leave is unpaid and job-protected: an eligible employee can take time off and return to the same or an equivalent job.

Under 29 U.S.C. § 2612, an eligible employee may take up to 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period for any of these reasons:

• The birth of a child, or placement of a child for adoption or foster care
• Caring for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition
• The employee’s own serious health condition that makes them unable to work
• A qualifying need arising from a family member’s military deployment

Leave to care for a family member who is a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness runs up to 26 workweeks in a single 12-month period. The qualifying reasons and the way leave is counted are laid out in the Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #28, revised March 2025.

FMLA sits apart from New York’s own leave programs. New York Paid Family Leave and the state’s paid sick leave law are state benefits that can run alongside federal FMLA, not instead of it. The state rules on accrued paid sick time are covered in New York’s sick leave law.

Who is eligible for FMLA in New York

Eligibility turns on the employee’s work history and the employer’s size, not on where in New York the job sits. Under 29 U.S.C. § 2611, an eligible employee is one who has:

• Worked for the employer for at least 12 months, which need not be consecutive
• Logged at least 1,250 hours of service during the 12 months before the leave begins
• Works at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles

The employer has to be covered as well. A private New York employer is covered when it employs 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or previous calendar year, according to Fact Sheet #28. Public agencies and public and private elementary and secondary schools are covered regardless of headcount.

How to apply for FMLA leave

There is no single federal application form an employee files. The New York FMLA application process starts when you tell your employer you need leave; the employer then supplies its own notices and may request certification.

1. Notify your employer of the need for leave

   Tell your employer you need time off, and give enough information for the employer to see the leave may be FMLA-qualifying. The first time you request leave for a given reason, you do not have to name the FMLA or use any special words. For leave you can foresee, such as scheduled surgery or an expected birth, notice comes at least 30 days ahead under 29 CFR § 825.302.

2. Receive the employer's eligibility and rights notice

   Soon after your request, the employer must tell you whether you are eligible, using the Eligibility and Rights and Responsibilities Notice (form WH-381). This notice states whether you qualify and, if not, at least one reason why. These FMLA notice and certification forms are published by the Department of Labor.

3. Return any medical certification requested

   If the leave is for a serious health condition, the employer can require a certification completed by the health care provider. You have at least 15 calendar days to return it, per Fact Sheet #28.

4. Receive the designation notice

   Once you provide a complete certification, the employer uses the Designation Notice (form WH-382) to confirm the leave is FMLA-protected and to count it against your FMLA entitlement.

The certification forms are optional-use federal forms. For an employee’s own condition, the form is WH-380-E; for a family member’s condition, it is WH-380-F. An employer must accept a complete and sufficient certification in any format and cannot reject one simply because it is not on the company’s own form.

Notice and medical certification deadlines

Timing is where most FMLA requests succeed or fall apart. The federal rule on employee notice, 29 CFR § 825.302, sets out when you have to speak up.

An employer can also require you to follow its usual call-in procedures for requesting leave, such as notifying a specific person or submitting a written request, as long as those rules do not demand notice sooner than the FMLA allows. Failing to follow a known, reasonable procedure without an unusual reason can delay or cost the protection.

Job protection during and after FMLA leave

An employee who returns from FMLA leave has the right to the same job, or an equivalent one with the same pay, benefits, and terms. During the leave, the employer must keep group health coverage in place on the same terms as if the employee had kept working.

FMLA also bars retaliation. An employer cannot fire, discipline, demote, or otherwise penalize an employee for requesting or using FMLA leave. Firing someone for taking protected leave can amount to wrongful termination in New York, and it violates the federal statute directly. Because most New York jobs are governed by at-will employment in New York, FMLA is one of the specific federal protections that narrows an employer’s freedom to fire without cause. If an employer interferes with FMLA rights, an employee can file a complaint with the Wage and Hour Division or bring a private lawsuit. The Department of Labor’s Employee Guide to the FMLA walks through these enforcement paths. ## If FMLA does not cover you: New York options Not every New York worker qualifies for FMLA. Employees of employers with fewer than 50 workers, and those who have not yet reached 12 months or 1,250 hours of service, fall outside it. New York offers separate programs that may still apply: – **New York Paid Family Leave** pays partial wages for bonding with a new child, caring for a family member with a serious health condition, or certain military situations. It carries no 50-employee threshold. – **New York paid sick leave** requires employers to provide accrued sick time an employee can use for their own or a family member’s health needs; the accrual and hour rules appear in New York’s paid sick leave requirements. Where a leave qualifies under both FMLA and a New York program, the leaves generally run at the same time, and the state benefit can supply pay during the otherwise-unpaid federal leave.