DCFMLA Flexibility?

[Anonymous]

Hi there, I was wondering if you can split your DC FMLA, and if so, could it be more than once? I work in a school and have summers off, so if I delivered in early January, could my husband take off a week, (then I'd be on maternity leave until the end of May), do FMLA until I'm out of school, and use the remainder in September when I go back to school? In another scenario, if I delivered in May and used my medical FMLA, could I use my parental FMLA in September when returning to school so that my summer break doesn't count towards my time? Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

DC FMLA is comprised of your medical leave and then bonding leave. So you could split your time by taking the bonding leave in September, but your 16 weeks of medical leave is limited to the period of time that you are medically incapacitated- usually 6 or 8 weeks.

So your medical leave covers you from Jan until mid/end of Feb early March. How would you be put until the end of the year unless you take the caregiver portion of the leave?

[Anonymous]

You can take it “intermittently” with a split over the summer, yes. It cannot total more than 16 weeks of the family bonding leave. I am a school employee due in May and planning to take 6-8 of medical FMLA, then summer break, then use the 16 weeks of family bonding FMLA beginning at the start of the school year. I believe any week that teachers / staff are required to work at all even for one day will count as a whole week off the 16, though. So even if the week of Thanksgiving is only 3 work days, it will decrease your remaining FMLA availability by 1 whole week.

[Anonymous]

Also, the PP on 2/4 is correct: you can only use medical leave for 6-8 weeks. The family leave portion adds up to 16 weeks on top of that. So unless you have extenuating medical circumstances like medical bedrest before delivery or a medical reason that the medical portion of the leave be extended beyond 8 weeks (can’t imagine what that would be - it has to be your own medical recovery, not the baby’s), then in the January scenario you described you’d need to start your family leave prior to summer break in order to stay out for the rest of the school year. You would have to use your sick leave + Paid Family Leave (8 weeks) and the remainder would be unpaid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can take it “intermittently” with a split over the summer, yes. It cannot total more than 16 weeks of the family bonding leave. I am a school employee due in May and planning to take 6-8 of medical FMLA, then summer break, then use the 16 weeks of family bonding FMLA beginning at the start of the school year. I believe any week that teachers / staff are required to work at all even for one day will count as a whole week off the 16, though. So even if the week of Thanksgiving is only 3 work days, it will decrease your remaining FMLA availability by 1 whole week.

The 16-week bonding cap is going to be a challenge for OP. If she’s planning to give birth in Jan, she’ll use all of her FMLA (both medical and bonding) by the end of the school year. She most likely won’t have any leave left for Sept. Unless she works for a school system that gets out in May.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can take it “intermittently” with a split over the summer, yes. It cannot total more than 16 weeks of the family bonding leave. I am a school employee due in May and planning to take 6-8 of medical FMLA, then summer break, then use the 16 weeks of family bonding FMLA beginning at the start of the school year. I believe any week that teachers / staff are required to work at all even for one day will count as a whole week off the 16, though. So even if the week of Thanksgiving is only 3 work days, it will decrease your remaining FMLA availability by 1 whole week.

The 16-week bonding cap is going to be a challenge for OP. If she’s planning to give birth in Jan, she’ll use all of her FMLA (both medical and bonding) by the end of the school year. She most likely won’t have any leave left for Sept. Unless she works for a school system that gets out in May.

Thanks. I'm trying to determine the windows I should try to get pregnant in, like the earliest we can try so our leave could align with summer break. In the January scenario, I'd use all my leave, then my fiance would use some of his leave and use the rest in September.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can take it “intermittently” with a split over the summer, yes. It cannot total more than 16 weeks of the family bonding leave. I am a school employee due in May and planning to take 6-8 of medical FMLA, then summer break, then use the 16 weeks of family bonding FMLA beginning at the start of the school year. I believe any week that teachers / staff are required to work at all even for one day will count as a whole week off the 16, though. So even if the week of Thanksgiving is only 3 work days, it will decrease your remaining FMLA availability by 1 whole week.

Thanks. But things like spring break wouldn't count against it, since it's a whole week?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can take it “intermittently” with a split over the summer, yes. It cannot total more than 16 weeks of the family bonding leave. I am a school employee due in May and planning to take 6-8 of medical FMLA, then summer break, then use the 16 weeks of family bonding FMLA beginning at the start of the school year. I believe any week that teachers / staff are required to work at all even for one day will count as a whole week off the 16, though. So even if the week of Thanksgiving is only 3 work days, it will decrease your remaining FMLA availability by 1 whole week.

The 16-week bonding cap is going to be a challenge for OP. If she’s planning to give birth in Jan, she’ll use all of her FMLA (both medical and bonding) by the end of the school year. She most likely won’t have any leave left for Sept. Unless she works for a school system that gets out in May.

Thanks. I'm trying to determine the windows I should try to get pregnant in, like the earliest we can try so our leave could align with summer break. In the January scenario, I'd use all my leave, then my fiance would use some of his leave and use the rest in September.

Ohhhh sorry. I misread the original post that you were trying to take the time in September. Not the husband. The law says that the 16-weeks of bonding time has to be taken during the first year of the baby’s life so he should be fine from that perspective. The only challenge here is that an employer can require the bonding leave be taken consecutively and not broken up. What does his company’s FMLA apology say?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can take it “intermittently” with a split over the summer, yes. It cannot total more than 16 weeks of the family bonding leave. I am a school employee due in May and planning to take 6-8 of medical FMLA, then summer break, then use the 16 weeks of family bonding FMLA beginning at the start of the school year. I believe any week that teachers / staff are required to work at all even for one day will count as a whole week off the 16, though. So even if the week of Thanksgiving is only 3 work days, it will decrease your remaining FMLA availability by 1 whole week.

The 16-week bonding cap is going to be a challenge for OP. If she’s planning to give birth in Jan, she’ll use all of her FMLA (both medical and bonding) by the end of the school year. She most likely won’t have any leave left for Sept. Unless she works for a school system that gets out in May.

Thanks. I'm trying to determine the windows I should try to get pregnant in, like the earliest we can try so our leave could align with summer break. In the January scenario, I'd use all my leave, then my fiance would use some of his leave and use the rest in September.

Ohhhh sorry. I misread the original post that you were trying to take the time in September. Not the husband. The law says that the 16-weeks of bonding time has to be taken during the first year of the baby’s life so he should be fine from that perspective. The only challenge here is that an employer can require the bonding leave be taken consecutively and not broken up. What does his company’s FMLA apology say?

I don’t think they can count summer break weeks as “breaking up” the consecutive 16 weeks because no teacher (whether on leave or not) is required to report to work during those weeks. So consecutive weeks prior to summer break including the last day of school and then continuing with the first day of school the following school year (after summer break) is still technically consecutive work weeks for a 10 mo. teacher. Also, can you point to where it says they can require that? The DC HR info states it can be can taken intermittently, but maybe they mean with employer approval.

OP you are correct, weeks like Spring Break don’t count. But if they require teachers to report for PD on a Friday this next school year like they propose, that whole week would count. They can’t deduct your leave hours for those days that teachers don’t report to work though —- you get paid holiday or admin pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can take it “intermittently” with a split over the summer, yes. It cannot total more than 16 weeks of the family bonding leave. I am a school employee due in May and planning to take 6-8 of medical FMLA, then summer break, then use the 16 weeks of family bonding FMLA beginning at the start of the school year. I believe any week that teachers / staff are required to work at all even for one day will count as a whole week off the 16, though. So even if the week of Thanksgiving is only 3 work days, it will decrease your remaining FMLA availability by 1 whole week.

The 16-week bonding cap is going to be a challenge for OP. If she’s planning to give birth in Jan, she’ll use all of her FMLA (both medical and bonding) by the end of the school year. She most likely won’t have any leave left for Sept. Unless she works for a school system that gets out in May.

Thanks. I'm trying to determine the windows I should try to get pregnant in, like the earliest we can try so our leave could align with summer break. In the January scenario, I'd use all my leave, then my fiance would use some of his leave and use the rest in September.

This is smart. I timed my fertility treatment cycles this way, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can take it “intermittently” with a split over the summer, yes. It cannot total more than 16 weeks of the family bonding leave. I am a school employee due in May and planning to take 6-8 of medical FMLA, then summer break, then use the 16 weeks of family bonding FMLA beginning at the start of the school year. I believe any week that teachers / staff are required to work at all even for one day will count as a whole week off the 16, though. So even if the week of Thanksgiving is only 3 work days, it will decrease your remaining FMLA availability by 1 whole week.

The 16-week bonding cap is going to be a challenge for OP. If she’s planning to give birth in Jan, she’ll use all of her FMLA (both medical and bonding) by the end of the school year. She most likely won’t have any leave left for Sept. Unless she works for a school system that gets out in May.

Thanks. I'm trying to determine the windows I should try to get pregnant in, like the earliest we can try so our leave could align with summer break. In the January scenario, I'd use all my leave, then my fiance would use some of his leave and use the rest in September.

Ohhhh sorry. I misread the original post that you were trying to take the time in September. Not the husband. The law says that the 16-weeks of bonding time has to be taken during the first year of the baby’s life so he should be fine from that perspective. The only challenge here is that an employer can require the bonding leave be taken consecutively and not broken up. What does his company’s FMLA apology say?

I don’t think they can count summer break weeks as “breaking up” the consecutive 16 weeks because no teacher (whether on leave or not) is required to report to work during those weeks. So consecutive weeks prior to summer break including the last day of school and then continuing with the first day of school the following school year (after summer break) is still technically consecutive work weeks for a 10 mo. teacher. Also, can you point to where it says they can require that? The DC HR info states it can be can taken intermittently, but maybe they mean with employer approval.

OP you are correct, weeks like Spring Break don’t count. But if they require teachers to report for PD on a Friday this next school year like they propose, that whole week would count. They can’t deduct your leave hours for those days that teachers don’t report to work though —- you get paid holiday or admin pay.

I’m not referring to Summer Break as the break in consecutive time. OP states her husband would take a week of bonding leave when the baby is born in Jan and then the rest of the leave in September. That is the break in time.

As for the requirement for taking the leave consecutively unless allowed, here is the DC code: 4 DCMR § 1699.1. If the leave is for a child’s birth, adoption, or placement, it must be used within 12 months after the child arrives and cannot be taken intermittently, unless the employer agrees to intermittent leave, in which case the intermittent leave can last 24 months. 4 DCMR § 1606.4.

If OP’s DH’s employer allows for intermittnent use of family leave for birth, it should be in their FMLA policy. The DH can quickly answer this by getting a copy of the policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can take it “intermittently” with a split over the summer, yes. It cannot total more than 16 weeks of the family bonding leave. I am a school employee due in May and planning to take 6-8 of medical FMLA, then summer break, then use the 16 weeks of family bonding FMLA beginning at the start of the school year. I believe any week that teachers / staff are required to work at all even for one day will count as a whole week off the 16, though. So even if the week of Thanksgiving is only 3 work days, it will decrease your remaining FMLA availability by 1 whole week.

The 16-week bonding cap is going to be a challenge for OP. If she’s planning to give birth in Jan, she’ll use all of her FMLA (both medical and bonding) by the end of the school year. She most likely won’t have any leave left for Sept. Unless she works for a school system that gets out in May.

Thanks. I'm trying to determine the windows I should try to get pregnant in, like the earliest we can try so our leave could align with summer break. In the January scenario, I'd use all my leave, then my fiance would use some of his leave and use the rest in September.

Ohhhh sorry. I misread the original post that you were trying to take the time in September. Not the husband. The law says that the 16-weeks of bonding time has to be taken during the first year of the baby’s life so he should be fine from that perspective. The only challenge here is that an employer can require the bonding leave be taken consecutively and not broken up. What does his company’s FMLA apology say?

I don’t think they can count summer break weeks as “breaking up” the consecutive 16 weeks because no teacher (whether on leave or not) is required to report to work during those weeks. So consecutive weeks prior to summer break including the last day of school and then continuing with the first day of school the following school year (after summer break) is still technically consecutive work weeks for a 10 mo. teacher. Also, can you point to where it says they can require that? The DC HR info states it can be can taken intermittently, but maybe they mean with employer approval.

OP you are correct, weeks like Spring Break don’t count. But if they require teachers to report for PD on a Friday this next school year like they propose, that whole week would count. They can’t deduct your leave hours for those days that teachers don’t report to work though —- you get paid holiday or admin pay.

I’m not referring to Summer Break as the break in consecutive time. OP states her husband would take a week of bonding leave when the baby is born in Jan and then the rest of the leave in September. That is the break in time.

As for the requirement for taking the leave consecutively unless allowed, here is the DC code: 4 DCMR § 1699.1. If the leave is for a child’s birth, adoption, or placement, it must be used within 12 months after the child arrives and cannot be taken intermittently, unless the employer agrees to intermittent leave, in which case the intermittent leave can last 24 months. 4 DCMR § 1606.4.

If OP’s DH’s employer allows for intermittnent use of family leave for birth, it should be in their FMLA policy. The DH can quickly answer this by getting a copy of the policy.

Ahhh, I was assuming when she said she worked in a school that she was the one with the DC FMLA and not the husband but I guess re-reading it doesn’t specify..... thanks for the citation, I haven’t looked at the actual code since my last leave but various FAQ docs etc. from diff. agencies and citywide HR can be confusing. Wasn’t trying to be snarky.

[Anonymous]

Ex: https://ohr.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ohr/publication/attachments/DCFMLA_Poster_March2016.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ex: https://ohr.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ohr/publication/attachments/DCFMLA_Poster_March2016.pdf

I think the Federal poster reads the same way and it also has the exception to intermittent FMLA for bonding. It really wouldn’t be that hard for the posters to be more clear to that exception.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can take it “intermittently” with a split over the summer, yes. It cannot total more than 16 weeks of the family bonding leave. I am a school employee due in May and planning to take 6-8 of medical FMLA, then summer break, then use the 16 weeks of family bonding FMLA beginning at the start of the school year. I believe any week that teachers / staff are required to work at all even for one day will count as a whole week off the 16, though. So even if the week of Thanksgiving is only 3 work days, it will decrease your remaining FMLA availability by 1 whole week.

The 16-week bonding cap is going to be a challenge for OP. If she’s planning to give birth in Jan, she’ll use all of her FMLA (both medical and bonding) by the end of the school year. She most likely won’t have any leave left for Sept. Unless she works for a school system that gets out in May.

Thanks. I'm trying to determine the windows I should try to get pregnant in, like the earliest we can try so our leave could align with summer break. In the January scenario, I'd use all my leave, then my fiance would use some of his leave and use the rest in September.

Ohhhh sorry. I misread the original post that you were trying to take the time in September. Not the husband. The law says that the 16-weeks of bonding time has to be taken during the first year of the baby’s life so he should be fine from that perspective. The only challenge here is that an employer can require the bonding leave be taken consecutively and not broken up. What does his company’s FMLA apology say?

I don’t think they can count summer break weeks as “breaking up” the consecutive 16 weeks because no teacher (whether on leave or not) is required to report to work during those weeks. So consecutive weeks prior to summer break including the last day of school and then continuing with the first day of school the following school year (after summer break) is still technically consecutive work weeks for a 10 mo. teacher. Also, can you point to where it says they can require that? The DC HR info states it can be can taken intermittently, but maybe they mean with employer approval.

OP you are correct, weeks like Spring Break don’t count. But if they require teachers to report for PD on a Friday this next school year like they propose, that whole week would count. They can’t deduct your leave hours for those days that teachers don’t report to work though —- you get paid holiday or admin pay.

I’m not referring to Summer Break as the break in consecutive time. OP states her husband would take a week of bonding leave when the baby is born in Jan and then the rest of the leave in September. That is the break in time.

As for the requirement for taking the leave consecutively unless allowed, here is the DC code: 4 DCMR § 1699.1. If the leave is for a child’s birth, adoption, or placement, it must be used within 12 months after the child arrives and cannot be taken intermittently, unless the employer agrees to intermittent leave, in which case the intermittent leave can last 24 months. 4 DCMR § 1606.4.

If OP’s DH’s employer allows for intermittnent use of family leave for birth, it should be in their FMLA policy. The DH can quickly answer this by getting a copy of the policy.

Ahhh, I was assuming when she said she worked in a school that she was the one with the DC FMLA and not the husband but I guess re-reading it doesn’t specify..... thanks for the citation, I haven’t looked at the actual code since my last leave but various FAQ docs etc. from diff. agencies and citywide HR can be confusing. Wasn’t trying to be snarky.

Sorry for not being clear, we both should be eligible. So if we got lucky and timing worked out, it could be about 11 months between us. ?His company's family leave policy is 6 weeks fully paid, so I wonder how the pay would work out.