Q: I attended an educator’s workshop the other day where they told me that all schools had to offer FMLA (Family Medical Leave), even if the school has fewer than 50 employees? Is this true?
A: The answer is, “Yes, but …” It is true that the federal FMLA statute, it specifies that all schools (public and private) are required to provide eligible employees with FMLA leave. However, the issue doesn’t end there. (Here is the “but” part). It is also true that in order for an employee to be eligible to take FMLA leave, he or she must work for an employer with 50 or more employees. If you’re thinking, “Well, the second part seems to cancel out the first part,” you would be correct. This is why we generally say that schools need to have 50 or more employees before they are required to provide FMLA leave. We don’t recommend telling employees that you have to offer FMLA to them but they can’t use it, which is likely to only create confusion and hard feelings. So, what you heard is correct—but, most importantly, it is incomplete.
