Are Part-Time Employees Entitled to FMLA Benefits?

Are there FMLA benefits for part-time employees? What does FMLA for part-time employees cover? You may have a lot of questions about the benefits you can expect under FMLA if you do not work full-time.

DoNotPay can help you get the answers and even apply for FMLA benefits as a part-time employee if you qualify.

What is FMLA?

FMLA, or the Family Medical Leave Act, entitles eligible employees to specific benefits, including unpaid time off work. Under FMLA, employees can take:

• 12 weeks off for the birth or adoption of a child
• 12 weeks off to care for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health concern or condition
• 12 weeks off if you need to take care of your own serious health issues
• 12-26 weeks off for an emergency that occurs to a covered servicemember with a serious injury if the employee is the next of kin to that service member.

However, not every employee is eligible for FMLA. In order to be eligible for FMLA, you must:

• Work at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months before you plan to start the leave. That means you must work an average of 24-25 hours per week, which may disqualify some part-time employees.
• Work at a location with at least 50 employees either specifically at that location or within 75 miles of it.
• Have spent at least 12 months working for that employer.

Can I Get Paid on FMLA?

Most of the time, FMLA for part-time employees is unpaid leave. In fact, FMLA is, by definition, unpaid leave. However, depending on your employer's policies, you may have some options for bringing in a source of income while on FMLA.

1. Check out your state's laws.
2. Talk to your employer's HR department. Some employers may offer some full-time or part-time benefits for employees who need to spend time out of work while dealing with serious family health issues.
3. Use your accumulated leave or paid vacation leave to help cover some of the time spent off on FMLA.

If you need to look into your available options for FMLA according to state laws for part-time workers, check out DoNotPay's state guides about FMLA.

How to Request FMLA as a Part-Time Employee

You may struggle to ask for and receive the leave time you really deserve under FMLA. You may need to:

1. Talk to your boss.
2. Submit a letter to your HR department.
3. Fill out company forms.
4. Fight to explain your rights under FMLA.

Dealing with an FMLA request as a part-time employee, especially on top of medical difficulties that may make it necessary for you to miss that time at work, can feel incredibly stressful.

DoNotPay Can Make Your FMLA Request as a Part-Time Employee Easy

Do you need to request FMLA leave as a part-time employee? DoNotPay can take the stress off.

1. 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).
2. 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.
3. 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).
4. Indicate whether you are the birth parent or not (birth parents have a few additional protections).
5. Enter the name of your company and the person to address this request to.
6. Select whether you want us to email the request to your employer on your behalf.

Why Use DoNotPay to Make Your FMLA Request as a Part-Time Employee?

You may not know your rights or how to fight for them while still ensuring that your job will be there waiting for you when you come back. At DoNotPay, we can make your life much easier. We:

• Offer an accurate look at your rights under FMLA.
• Provide you with a template and submit it on your behalf.
• Make it much simpler to submit your FMLA request.

DoNotPay Makes Many FMLA-Related Tasks Easier

No matter where you need to request FMLA leave as a part-time employee, DoNotPay is here to help. California? Florida? New York? New Jersey? DoNotPay is here to make that process as quick and easy as possible. You can file an FMLA claim, access FMLA forms, put together your FMLA request letter, and a host of other tasks with ease.

Get Started With DoNotPay Today

If you're ready to start making your life easier, whether you need help applying for FMLA leave as a part-time employee or figuring out how to manage your fishing license application, DoNotPay can help. Check out our services today to learn more about how we can make your life easier.