Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Poster: What’s it All About?

As an employer, it’s important to understand the finer details of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Even if this has never come to the forefront in the past, you never know if an employee will request leave in the future.

The United States Department of Labor defines the FMLA as follows:

“The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons with continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave.”

There are two things to keep in mind:

• You are only required to offer FMLA leave if your company (a private sector employer) employs 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius of your place of employment
• The 50 employee rule does not apply to public agencies

What’s the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Poster?
Covered employers are required by law to display the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) poster in a conspicuous place where both employees and applicants can easily access it.

Note: a poster is required to be displayed at all company locations, even if there are no eligible employees working there.

The poster details six important points:

1. Leave Entitlements – An overview of the reasons an employee can take FMLA leave, such as:
   • Birth of a child
   • Placement of a child for adoption
   • To bond with a child
   • To care for a spouse, parent, or child suffering from a qualifying and serious health condition
   • To care for a personal qualifying serious health condition
2. Benefits and Protections – Information on the benefits and protections provided to employees, such as the requirement for employers to continue health insurance coverage during this time.
   Also, employers are required to provide the employee with the same job or one that is nearly identical in regards to pay and benefits, upon their return from FMLA leave.
3. Eligibility Requirements – Employees must meet three eligibility requiremnts to take FMLA leave:
   • Have worked for the company for a minimum of 12 months
   • Have a minimum of 1,250 hours of service in the 12 months leading to the leave
   • Employed at a location with 50 or more employees
4. Requesting Leave – Guidance on how to request leave, and the type of infromation the employee must share with their employer.
5. Employer Responsibilities – The employer has several responsibilities once receiving notice of an employee’s intention to take FMLA leave.
6. Enforcement – In the event of a conflict, employees have the right to file a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. Additionally, they can also file a private lawsuit.

Recent Updates to the FMLA Poster
In 2016 a major update took place to FMLA which has required all businesses to display updated versions of this poster. You can learn more about the 2016 update here.

How to Display the FMLA Poster
As noted above, you must display the poster in a conspicuous place for viewing by both employees and job applicants.

You have a few options:

1. It is included as part of our All In One Labor Law poster which contains all state & federal posters required by employers. If you’re need of labor law posters in general or if your current posters may be out of date, this is the best option.
2. If you recently updated your state labor law posters, you can simply update your federal labor law poster which contains the FMLA poster among other federally required posters.
3. FMLA poster must be explicitly visible by all employees as well as applicants during onsite interviews. Employers often do not have labor law posters visible by both employees & applicants. Thus, instead of of purchasing two sets of all in one posters (one in your interview room, the other for all regular employers to see), you can purchase the applicant labor law poster which contains the FMLA poster along with other mandatory poster requirements. This can be posted in your interviewing area of your company to meet compliance requirements.