Legal
Briefing:
Medical Leaves
of Absence:
From time-to-time supervisors hear from a staff member about a
need for time off work to care for their health condition or to
care for a family member who has a health condition. Both Federal
and State law provide job protections for employees who need short-term
and/or intermittent absences for medical reasons. These protections
are outlined under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
and Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA) and interact with other laws
under Workers Compensation and Americans with Disabilities. Determining
employee eligibility under the law and the corresponding University
benefits available to the employees is a complex analysis. Supervisors
should not try to be subject- matter experts in this area but can
help by understanding the basics of family leave and by notifying
Joanne Clancy, Benefits Manager, extension 53749, immediately if
they believe an employee absence may qualify.
Human Resources staff members can determine employee eligibility,
receive medical information and assess whether the health condition
meets the requirements under FMLA/OFLA, and will approve or deny
the leave request.
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The
determination of employee eligibility depends on several
requirements:
- The
employee's length of service and minimum average hours
worked per week (varies by law).
- If the
absence is needed to care for the employee's child after
birth, or to handle adoption placement or foster care,
or
- To
care for the employee's spouse, son, daughter, or parent,
who has a serious health
condition, or
- To
care for a serious health condition that makes the employee
unable to perform job duties.
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Under ORS
659A.150(6), OAR 839-009-0210(14), 29 CFS section 825.114 a serious
health condition is generally a continuous
or intermittent
absence from work for reasons such as:
- Inpatient
care
- Critical
illnesses or injuries diagnosed as terminal or as the cause
of an imminent danger of death
- Conditions
requiring “constant” or “ continuing” care
- Permanent
or long-term incapacity due to a condition for which treatment
may not be effective, such as Alzheimer's
disease, a severe stroke or terminal stages of a disease.
- Period
of incapacity (“Absence Plus Treatment”): Incapacity
for more than three consecutive calendar days, which also
involves: (a) two or more treatments by a health care provider
or (b) one
treatment followed by a regimen of continuing treatment
(notify HR immediately when this happens)
- Absences
for pregnancy related disability
- Absences
for prenatal care
- Absences
for chronic conditions
- Multiple
treatments for conditions that if not treated would likely
result in incapacity of more
than three
days
Some examples
of illnesses which generally do not qualify as
a serious health condition include:
- The
Common Cold, Flu, Sore Throat or Upset Stomach
- Ear Aches
(unless it's a child with a chronic condition)
- Routine
Headaches (Other than migraine)
- Routine
Medical or Dental Visits (Other than prenatal)
While OFLA
and FMLA have slightly different requirements regarding Medical
Certification, generally Human Resources requests medical
certification as part of the employee's application for the leave.
In addition, PSU generally requires a “ fitness for duty” or “release
to return to work” at the end of a leave. This release must
be provided to Human Resources on or before the return to
work date. A supervisor may accept the release from the employee,
however, it must be immediately forwarded to the Human Resource
Benefits Manager.
While these leaves are defined as unpaid, at the employee's or
employer's option, certain kinds of paid leave may be substituted
for unpaid time off after the leave is approved in Human Resources. Questions regarding available leave balances
and recording information on timesheets can be answered in Human
Resources. For more information on leaves go to the following link
on the Office of Human Resources web site: Leave Information.
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