(A) Policy. The county will comply with all applicable requirements of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). The Human Resources shall prepare, and update as appropriate, written guidelines to implement this policy and shall provide a copy of those guidelines to each employee. The type and length of leave, and compensation to be received, if any, during the leave will also be set forth in those guidelines. The most recent guidelines are detailed in Appendix A.
(B) Notice and verification. Employees applying for FMLA leave ordinarily must provide the county with at least 30 days notice of the need for leave, if the need for leave is foreseeable. If the need is not foreseeable, the employee should give as much notice as is practical. Employees who will be absent from work for three or more days, due to his or her serious health condition or that of a parent, spouse or child, or another “qualifying exigency” shall apply for FMLA leave. The employee notice shall contain the reason for the leave, the anticipated timing of the leave and the expected duration of the leave. In addition, employees who need leave for their own or a family member’s serious health condition, must provide medical certification of the serious health condition within 15 days after the request or as soon thereafter as is reasonably possible. The county may also require a second or third opinion (at the county’s expense), periodic re-certification of the serious health condition (as frequently as every 30 days), and when the leave is a result of the employee’s own serious health condition, a fitness for duty report to return to work. The county may deny leave to employees who do not provide proper general or advanced leave notice or medical certification within established time frame.
(C) Measurement. The county has designated the 12-month period to be measured forward from the day an employee’s FMLA leave commences, until changed.
(Ord. passed 6- -2019; Ord. 2021-13, passed 12-21-2021)