How to Apply for FMLA Leave In Indiana [Process & Eligibility]

How to Apply for FMLA Leave In Indiana

Welcoming a new child into your family is undoubtedly an exciting and stressful time, and parents understandably want to spend time at home bonding with their new child after they arrive. Many organizations provide some form of parental leave, but companies in the United States are not actually required to provide paid parental leave at all. Fortunately, you can at least apply for to get up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off with your growing family.

Applying for FMLA can be confusing and overwhelming, but DoNotPay can handle most of the hard work for you in as little as a few minutes with a few clicks on your computer or taps on your smartphone! Learn more about FMLA and DoNotPay below.

What is FMLA?

FMLA stands for the Family and Medical Leave Act, which was first introduced in the United States in 1993. This act requires companies that employ more than 50 people to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for qualifying medical conditions or life circumstances. FMLA is important because it ensures that you will be able to return to your job after an extended time away.

Some companies do provide a few paid days or weeks for parental leave, but many parents find that it isn't enough time to adjust to their new lifestyle after welcoming a new child. You may be able to combine paid parental leave and FMLA to give yourself plenty of time with your family before heading back to work.

Who Qualifies for FMLA?

Not just everyone who wants time off can request FMLA. There are a few qualifications prospective FMLA recipients must meet, including:

The employee or a close family member experienced a qualified medical condition of life event (welcoming a new baby or adopting a child counts)
The employee worked at least 1,250 hours for the company during the previous year
The company employs at least 50 people

There are many reasons why a person may need to take FMLA, and the law was put into place to help individuals better balance their work and personal lives. Don't miss out on your chance to stay home and be with your family during these special life circumstances.

How to Request FMLA Indiana on Your Own

In order to request on your own, you must give your employer written notice within a reasonable timeframe. Because the arrival of a child, whether through pregnancy or adoption, is often known well ahead of time, it's best to give your employer at least 30 days of notice. Your letter should include the following five pieces of information:

Your name, job title, and department
The date your FMLA leave will begin
The date you expect to return
The reason for taking FMLA
Your contact information

Once you have your letter drafted, you can submit a hard copy or email it to your supervisor. It's not easy to draft an FMLA letter yourself, but you can always hire someone else to write one for you. This can end up costing a fair bit of money, and it's hard to tell whether it includes everything legally required, but DoNotPay can give you the best chance of receiving approval.

How to Request FMLA Leave in Indiana Using DoNotPay

If you would rather not go to all the trouble of requesting FMLA on your own, you can let DoNotPay handle it for you with just a few simple steps!

Tell us which state you work in (if you work in CA, NY, NJ, MA, WA, or DC, your state has a paid family leave program).
Choose whether you want us to apply to the program for you or contact your employer with your leave request. If you want to apply for the program, we will walk you through the questions on the form and mail the application form for you.
If you want us to contact your employer, enter your leave details, including the starting date, number of weeks of leave, and how many weeks of paid leave you are requesting (for example, you may take a 12 week leave, but only request 8 weeks of paid leave to make the request reasonable).
Indicate whether you are the birth parent or not (birth parents have a few additional legal protections).
Enter the name of your company and the person to address this request to.
Select whether you want us to email the request to your employer on your behalf.

What Else Can DoNotPay Do for Me?

DoNotPay can help you apply for parental leave not only in Indiana but also in other states like:

California
Florida
New York
New Jersey
And many more!

Besides making FMLA applications far easier, there are hundreds of other tasks DoNotPay can handle for you with the power of artificial intelligence, including: