The University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) provide eligible employees with up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave for certain family and medical reasons. Managerial/professional and office service employees with an FTE of .50 or greater are eligible. Also eligible are all other employees (including temporary and graduate student employees) who have worked at least 1,250 hours during the year preceding the leave.

Reasons for taking leave

UNL will grant up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave for any of the following reasons:

• to address maternal/paternal concerns related to the birth or adoption of a child, or the placement of a child with the employee for foster care;
• to address a serious health condition of the employee's spouse, child or parent;
• to address the employee's own serious health condition that renders the employee unable to perform essential functions of the job; or
• in association with a death in the immediate family

Substituting Paid Leave for unpaid Family/Medical Leave

Employees may request that accrued paid leave (e.g. vacation, sick, or funeral leave) be substituted for the unpaid family/medical leave entitlement. Any paid leave of five consecutive days or longer taken for any of the reasons listed above will be credited against the twelve-week family/medical leave entitlement.

Advance Notice and Medical Certification

The employee may be required to provide advance leave notice and medical certification. Family/ medical leave may be denied if these requirements are not met

• The employee ordinarily must provide 30 days of advance notice when the leave is foreseeable.
• UNL may require medical certification to support a request for leave due to a serious health condition. Additional medical opinions may be required at UNL's expense. UNL may also require a fitness for duty report prior to a return to work. Medical certification forms are available in Human Resources 472-3101.

Job Benefits and Protection

• For the duration of approved family/medical leave, the University will maintain the employee's health coverage under any University-sponsored group health plan.
• Upon return from family/medical leave an employee will return to the same employment status as if the employee had been continuously employed. As such, employees will usually be restored to their original or equivalent positions with equivalent pay, benefits, and other employment items.
• The use of approved family/medical leave will not result in the loss of any employment benefit that accrued prior to the start of an employee's leave