Procedure No.:   40.054

Page No.:        1 of 1

Date Issued:     01/10/02

Issued By:       Gary North

PURPOSE:

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) became effective August 5, 1993, and applies to Ohio University and its employees. This law is intended to define the rights and responsibilities of the employee and the University as it pertains to entitlement to leave, maintenance of health benefits during leave, and job restoration after leave.

POLICY:

It is the policy of Ohio University to comply with the requirements of the FMLA and to assist its employees in balancing their work and family life by taking reasonable leaves for certain family and medical reasons.

The law sets forth requirements for notice and certification of the need for FMLA leave. It protects Ohio University employees who request or take FMLA leave, and it imposes certain record keeping requirements on Ohio University. The purpose of this policy is to publish information about University and employee rights and obligations under the FMLA.

PROCEDURE:

In order to manage and enforce the comprehensive requirements of the FMLA, the University has published a manual entitled “Guidelines for Management and Enforcement of Rights and Responsibilities Under the Family Medical Leave Act.” This manual is hereby incorporated by reference into Ohio University policy and procedure#40.054.

The manual addresses the substantive and procedural rights and responsibilities of the FMLA. A copy of this manual will be distributed to each administrative department of the University. A copy will also be available at the Ohio University Library in the Reference Department. Upon request to University Human Resources, employees may receive a copy of the FMLA manual at no charge to the employee or obtain a copy of the manual or portions thereof from the FMLA web site.

Individual administrative departments are responsible for the management and record keeping requirement of the FMLA with assistance from University Human Resources. Pursuant to Ohio University Policies and Procedures, other leaves of absence may be available to the employee upon exhaustion of their FMLA (reference policy 41.128 and #40.033).

University Human Resources, in consultation with the Office of Legal Affairs, is responsible for the overall enforcement of this policy.

Dick Piccard revised this file (http://www.ohiou.edu/policy/s40-054.html) on January 7, 2008.

Please E-mail any comments or suggestions to "policy@ohio.edu".