DICKINSON COLLEGE FAMILY AND
MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993 AND NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR 2008
On February 5, 1993, President Clinton signed into law the Family and Medical Leave
Act which provides employees with temporary leave from their employment in the event
of the birth or adoption of a child, the serious health condition of a family member,
or their own serious health condition. I will attempt to briefly highlight the important
aspects of the Act as it pertains to Dickinson College employees as follows.
The provisions of the Act go into effect on August 5, 1993. In order to be eligible
for the protection of the Act, a Dickinson employee must be employed by the College
for at least 12 months and for not less than 1,250 hours.
The Act provides that Dickinson employees shall be entitled to an unpaid "family
leave" of 12 weeks in any 12-month period, providing that the employee gives the
College advance notice. "Family Leave" is defined as leave from employment
to provide care which is necessary because of one of four events:
- The birth of an employee's child.
- The adoption of a child by an employee.
- The serious health condition of a spouse, son, daughter, or parent of the employee.
- The serious health condition of the employee.
Employees have the option of taking the leave provided by the Act intermittently or
on a "reduced leave schedule". This option allows the employee to work shorter
work-weeks or shorter work-days for the College. However, it does not reduce the total
amount of leave (12 work weeks or 60 days) to which the employee is entitled.
When an employee is on leave pursuant to the Act, the College is required to maintain
whatever health care coverage agreement the employee would have enjoyed had he or she
continued in employment on the same basis. While the College is not required to pay
for an employee's leave under the Act, the College can require an employee, or the
employee may elect to substitute accrued paid vacation leave during the leave period.
The same option exists in the event of one's own serious health condition, one can
use accrued sick leave. The Act does state that it does not constitute a requirement
on the part of the College to provide paid sick leave where it normally would not be
provided.
A Dickinson employee who returns to work after a Family and Medical Leave Act leave
is entitled to be "restored" to the position which he or she held prior to
the leave or to "an equivalent position of like seniority status, employment benefits,
pay, and other terms and conditions of employment". If an employee doesn't return
to work at the conclusion of leave for a reason other than a) the continuation of recurrence
of his or her serious health condition/or that of a spouse/parent/son/daughter or b) "circumstances
beyond the control of the employee", the College can recover the premiums paid
to provide health care coverage for the employee during the leave.
Dickinson's policies pertaining to Pregnancy and Personal/Family Care Leave as described
in the College's Employment manuals for Faculty, Administration, and Support Staff
are compatible with and exceed the requirements of the Family and Medical Leave Act.
For further information regarding the details of the Family and Medical Leave Act or
if you have any questions regarding the College's various leave programs, please contact Human
Resource Services at ext. 1503.
FMLA Act
FMLA Military Amendment
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