Holidays & Leave

Family Medical Leave (FML)

 

Family Medical Leave (FML) is available to all employees - including temporary and student employees - pending the eligibility and hours worked requirements are met. To confirm your eligibility, please review the information in the dropdown "How do I apply for FML? What are the due dates/timelines?"

FAQs

Employee FAQs
Supervisor FAQs
FML Process Guide

Leave Resources

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Which leave is right for me?

AbsenceSoft Employee Self-Service Portal

Unpaid job protected leave
Family Medical Leave (FML) is unpaid job protected leave available to eligible employees who are experiencing a qualifying event, such as - 

  • When you are unable to work due to illness, injury or pregnancy.
  • When you need to be absent from work to care for a family member who has a serious health condition.
  • When you need to care for a child due to birth, adoption or foster care placement.
  • When you need to be absent from work for a qualifying exigency leave because your spouse, son, daughter or parent is on covered active duty (or has been notified of an impending call or order to covered active duty) in the Armed Forces.
  • When you need to care for your spouse, child, parent or next of kin undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy, is in outpatient status, or is on the temporary disability retired list for a serious illness or injury incurred or aggravated in the line of duty on active duty in the Armed Forces (includes the National Guard or Reserves). This includes a veteran who was discharged from the Armed Forces for reasons other than dishonorable within the 5 year period before the employee’s first day of leave.
  • When you need any other type of leave that may be covered by applicable state leave laws.
  • Thirty days before a planned leave based prescheduled medical treatment related to a serious health condition for you or your family member, or the expected birth, adoption or foster care placement of a child.

Requirement to use UA paid leaves
While FML in unpaid, the university requires that employees use their paid leaves while on approved FML. To do so, employees must use their sick leave (earnings code 550) when they are absent for FML. If sick leave exhausts, employees must still use the 550 earnings code. This code will then cascade automatically to annual leave, faculty time off, and personal holiday. 

Job protection while out on approved leave
FML provides unpaid job protected leave should you need to be absent from work for a serious health condition or to care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition. 

Required to use FML if eligible, approved, and entitlement is available
You cannot save your FML for specific events you are expecting in the future. You also cannot save your FML and use it only after all your paid leaves have exhausted. If you are experiencing an FML event, it is UA's responsibility to ensure that employees are provided with an eligibility notice and instructions on how to apply. Please reach out to Unum as soon as you believe you are experiencing an event.

Sabbatical and FML
If a faculty member on sabbatical experiences an FML qualifying event and applies for FML, they can remain on sabbatical leave status unless there's an agreement among the faculty member, their union and the university to the contrary. Per the CBA, faculty on Sabbatical Leave, however, may not use Faculty Time Off (FTO) or Sick Leave so they should consider options carefully. Any agreement with the union and faculty member must be developed in conjunction with the provost/dean/director, and must deal with practical issues, such as whether any sabbatical deliverables will be due, when the faculty member will next be eligible for sabbatical, whether they return to regular status immediately, etc.

​Review the information below to understand how to apply for FML and when items may be due. A supervisor or HR Coordinator can reach out to the Benefits team at ua-hr-leaves@alaska.edu to request an FMLA be initiated for an employee who is unable to do so themselves. 

Applying for FML | To Unum and your supervisor at least 30 days in advance (where possible)
There are two steps to requesting your FML:

  1. Notify your supervisor of your absence from work. 
  2. Submit your leave request to Unum.​

It is the employees responsibility to communicate timely with their supervisor on their anticipated FML.

Effective July 1, 2024, employees will be required to initiate any applicable family and medical leave requests with Unum within 30 days of the start of their leave. 

To submit your leave request, see the Employee Self Service Portal

Eligibility Notice | From UA HR within 2 business days of your request
After you apply for FML, UA HR will send you the eligibility notice within 2 business days of your request. This will outline if you are eligible for FML but does not approve the leave.

If you are eligible for FML, UA HR will provide a medical certification with your eligibility notice that will need to be completed. The medical certification is what allows a determination to be made on approving or denying the FML event. 

Being eligible for FML is not the same as being approved for FML. Be sure to reach step 3 carefully if you are eligible.

Medical Certification | Due 15 days after the leave request is filed
In all cases except natural childbirth, a doctor must certify the event. This doctor's certification is due within 15 days from the date the leave is filed. This is where UA HR reviews the leave for approval of the event.

Additional Information | Additional time provided for corrections
In some cases, UA HR will request additional information if a certification is incomplete. If this is the case, the employee will receive a letter with a new due date and the information that is needed to present a complete certification.

Medical certification is not received
If no medical certification is received, the leave will be closed and you will not be on approved FML. A medical certification is required.

Approval Notice | From UA HR within 5 business days of receipt of complete medical certification
After reviewing the medical certification, UA HR will provide employees with an approval or denial notice. If approved, this notice will outline the absences expected (i.e. continuous, intermittent), how many hours remain of the FML entitlement, and when the return to work date is (if known).

Step 1: Record FML leave on time sheets
As noted in the "What is Family Medical Leave (FML)?" drop down menu above, employees are required to use their sick leave (earnings code 550) on their UAOnline time sheet when they are out on FML. If sick leave exhausts, continue to use the sick leave code for all your FML absences. Sick leave will automatically cascade into annual leave, faculty time off, personal holiday, and then leave without pay or leave share (if eligible).

All FML absence should be reported on your time sheet as sick leave (earnings code 550).

FML time must be recorded with both UA and with Unum.

Step 2: Record FML leave
Employees on approved FML must report their FML hours in the AbsenceSoft Employee Self-Service Portal. If hours are not reported, they will not be considered protected under the FMLA.

FML time must be recorded in both you UA timesheet and in the AbsenceSoft Employee Self-Service Portal.
 

Effective July 1, 2024, employees will be required to report any family and medical leave absences within 30 days of the absence. 

There are a few options for salary continuation. You may be eligible for more than one option depending on your circumstances/event.​

While FML in unpaid, the university requires that employees use their paid leaves while on approved FML. To do so, employees must use their sick leave (earnings code 550) when they are absent for FML. If sick leave exhausts, employees must still use the 550 earnings code. This code will then cascade automatically to annual leave, faculty time off, and personal holiday. 

60% pay
STD may be an option if you are out for your own serious health condition. STD replaces 60% of your income, up to $800 per week, for a maximum of 11 weeks. Payment comes directly from Unum. 

Elimination Period
STD requires that you experience 2 weeks of absence (paid or unpaid) before benefits begin. This is called the elimination period.

Apply for STD
To see if you are eligible for STD, please call Unum. You can also review additional details on our STD webpage.

Donated sick leave
Leave share allows you to receive donated sick leave hours while you are on an approved FML. This is not available for pregnancy/childbirth or for employees who are eligible for STD. 

Exhaustion of leave
Employees must exhaust all their own paid leave and experience 2 weeks of leave without pay directly related to the FML event to begin receiving donations from Leave Share.

Apply for Leave Share
Review the Leave Share website to see if you are eligible and complete the form to apply. 

Please review our leave breakdown webpage which outlines all the possible leaves available to UA employees. If you have questions, please email ua-hr-leaves@alaska.edu.

There are a few options for returning to work depending on your circumstance. Please review the information below and email ua-hr-leaves@alaska.edu if you have any questions or concerns about returning to work after your leave has completed. 

Reach out to your supervisor and UA HR  (via ua-hr-leaves@alaska.edu) regarding your return to work schedule.

Unum and LTD
Please reach out to Unum for next steps. You may be eligible for Long-term Disability (LTD).

UA and ADA or a LOA
You will also want to reach out to ua-hr-leaves@alaska.edu to discuss the possibility of an American's with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation or a Leave of Absence (LOA). A leave of absence requires official approval from campus leadership).

 


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