FMLA for spouses who work for same company

Carol Bowen

We have a married couple who work for us and the wife is going to be going out on maternity leave. The law states that spouses who work for the same company can only take a combined 12 weeks for maternity. They know at this point the child will have medical complications.

If the couple takes the combined 12 weeks, does that mean that both of them have used their allotted 12 weeks for the year or do I only consider the amount of weeks each took and allow them the additional weeks of the 12 weeks each to care for the ill child after the maternity leave?

Has anyone run into this situation yet?:help:

Julie Athey

For some reason, this thread was inaccessible back when it was first posted. Now that it is accessible, HR Hero has asked me to post the reply I sent to Carol by private message in December. Here it is:

Carol,

The short answer to your question is that the couple does not have to combine their 12 weeks of leave to care for a newborn child who has a serious health condition. The requirement that they split their 12 weeks of leave applies only if they are taking the leave purely to care for and bond with the new child.

Julie

Sharon McKnight SPHR

To Carol,

Your first post!

Thanks for joining the Employers Forum. We hope to hear more from you.

Sharon

:welcome: