Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Guide for Employers
Learn who the Family and Medical Leave Act covers, the 50-employee test, 12 weeks of unpaid leave and notice deadlines, with slides and tables.
Last reviewed October 29, 2026 · General information, not legal advice
General information only, not legal advice. CPA Tax Payroll and Accounting Corp is a CPA firm, not a law firm. Laws change: confirm with the official source or a licensed attorney before you act. Read the full notice.
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, shortened to the FMLA, is the federal law that gives eligible employees unpaid, job-protected leave for certain family and medical reasons. The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division enforces it. This page is for owners of small businesses, practices and nonprofits checking whether the FMLA applies to them.
Slide show: The FMLA in seven slides
What the law does
The FMLA of 1993 gives unpaid, job-protected leave for a birth, adoption or foster placement, the employee's own serious health condition, care for a spouse, child or parent with one, and certain military family needs.
Who it covers
Private employers with 50 or more people on payroll in 20 or more workweeks. An employee needs 12 months, 1,250 hours and 50 of the employer's employees within 75 miles.
The core rule
Leave is unpaid, group health coverage continues, and the employee returns to the same or an equivalent job.
The key number
Up to 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period, or 26 workweeks for military caregiver leave.
The deadline
The employer sends the eligibility, rights and designation notices within 5 business days each. The employee has 15 calendar days to return a medical certificate.
The penalty
Lost pay and benefits, interest, equal liquidated damages (a court may cut them for good faith), and fees. Posting penalty: $216, no 2026 increase.
A practical tip
Count people on payroll each week for the whole company, then within 75 miles of each worksite. Page 3 walks through the Poster-to-Return Leave Relay.
Who is covered
Test
What the rule says
Private employer
50 or more employees on payroll each working day of 20 or more calendar workweeks, not necessarily consecutive, in the current or preceding calendar year
Public agency, school
Any size, for public agencies and for public and private elementary and secondary schools
Who counts toward 50
Everyone on payroll, part-time included, plus people on leave expected to return and joint employees; not laid-off staff or people working outside the U.S. and its territories
Related companies
May be treated as one employer, based on factors such as common management and ownership or financial control
Eligible employee
12 months with the employer, not necessarily consecutive; 1,250 hours worked in the prior 12 months; 50 or more of the employer's employees within 75 miles of the worksite
The 75 miles
Surface miles by shortest public route; remote staff use the office they report to, not home
Key employee
Salaried and in the highest-paid 10% of employees within 75 miles; the rules can limit job restoration, never leave
How it touches your taxes and payroll
Employer-paid sick pay is usually subject to FICA, FUTA and income tax withholding (IRS Publication 15-A). The headcount counts people on payroll each week, not full-time equivalents as the Affordable Care Act's 50-employee test does; see payroll tax basics. The section 45S employer credit for paid family and medical leave is now permanent, with changes from 2026 (IRS Notice 2026-28).
