Taking time off work is essential. We all need a sick day or a vacation every once in a while, but sometimes employees need more than that. Leave of absence, such as FMLA, allows employees to take extra time off to care for their health and family without worrying about losing their jobs.
However, administering these leaves can be challenging for employers.
One of the most complex leave types for employers to manage and track is intermittent leave. When employees break up their leave time allotment over several months or even the entire year, planning for staffing disruptions and accurately tracking time off use can be challenging.
Learn more about the different types of intermittent leave and how to navigate them. Plus, explore the primary legal considerations and eligibility requirements to keep track of.
What is intermittent leave?
Intermittent leave is a type of absence spread out and taken intermittently rather than all at once. The most common type of intermittent leave is FMLA, but other leave types can be taken this way.
Intermittent leave is typically granted when employees’ need for time off varies. For example, an employee may have a disability or chronic medical condition with periodic flare-ups or frequent absences for medical treatment and doctor appointments.
This approach benefits both employees and employers. It allows employees to space out their leave, enabling them to continue working when possible. Simultaneously, it provides them the flexibility to take additional time off when medically necessary or required for family caregiving.
Taking leave in this format means employers can find a temporary fill-in or shift responsibilities for up to 12 weeks, as with a traditional medical leave. Since many leave types, like FMLA, are unpaid, intermittent leave can also reduce the financial burden on the employee and their family. Of course, intermittent leave won’t work for every family or medical issue.
Types of intermittent leave
Explore the different types of intermittent leave. Most are legally required, but companies can also develop internal paid leave programs.
FMLA intermittent leave
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal leave law that allows eligible employees to take up to twelve weeks of leave within a single 12-month for family or medical reasons.
This time off is unpaid but job-protected leave, meaning the employee is entitled to be reinstated to the same or similar role in the organization upon their return.
FMLA leave can be used for:
Family bonding during the first year following the birth of a child, adoption, or foster care placement.
A period of incapacitation due to a serious health condition or time off for doctor appointments due to that condition.
Caring for a close family member with a serious health condition.
Qualifying exigencies for military service members and their families.
Employers are not required to offer intermittent leave for family bonding FMLA leave. They may require that it be taken as one continuous leave period rather than spread out across separate blocks of time.
ADA intermittent leave
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) can also provide intermittent unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities. The ADA defines a disability as a condition substantially limiting one or more major life activities.
Intermittent unpaid time off, a flexible schedule, or a reduced work schedule are reasonable accommodations under the ADA. Employers should evaluate such requests using their standard, reasonable accommodation process.
This route is often used when an employee has used up their FMLA leave entitlement or needs to meet the eligibility requirements for FMLA leave, such as length of service. Employers have a legal obligation to accommodate employees with disabilities.
Still, they can offer alternate accommodations if there is another way to meet the employee’s needs instead of intermittent leave.
Reduced work schedule intermittent leave
FMLA leave can also be taken as a reduced schedule, where the employee takes intermittent leave more consistently. This could involve working partial days or taking full days off each week to attend recurring medical appointments like dialysis.
Work schedule adjustments, like reduced or modified schedules, can be considered reasonable accommodations under the ADA. However, this is only true if these adjustments don’t create an undue hardship for the business.
However, like other accommodations, companies and employees can collaborate to explore other accommodations that can meet the employees’ needs in place of reduced work schedules.
Employer or state-sponsored paid leave
Depending on your company or state’s paid leave policies and programs, paid family leave may be offered as intermittent leave.
Eligibility requirements for FMLA intermittent leave
FMLA is the most common intermittent leave, with the most complex eligibility requirements and medical certification process. Here are the main requirements and steps for handling intermittent FMLA leave requests.
Covered employers and employee eligibility
Businesses must meet one of the following conditions to be considered a covered employer:
Operate as a private-sector employer and have recorded a headcount of 50 or more employees in at least 20 workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year.
Operate as a public agency, such as a local, state, or federal government agency. These organizations are not subject to FMLA requirements for a minimum headcount.
Be a public or private elementary or secondary school with any number of employees.
For small private businesses, keeping track of your headcount and whether or not you will be required to offer FMLA is essential. It’s also worth noting that remote employees can count towards the 50-employee minimum.
For FMLA purposes, remote employees should be counted under the office or work location where they receive assignments or direction.
1. Meeting length of employment requirements
Employees aren’t eligible for FMLA leave right away. They need to meet three conditions to qualify:
They must work with their current employer for at least 12 months, but it does not necessarily have to be consecutive.
They must have logged at least 1,250 hours for the employer within the last 12 months.
They must work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within a 75-mile radius.
2. Having a qualifying condition or family event
Employees need a covered and verifiable reason for their FMLA leave request. Medical certification can be requested if leave is asked for an employee’s serious health condition or caregiving duties related to a family member’s health condition.
The Department of Labor has forms available for certifying an employee’s or family member’s serious health condition. These forms should be filled out and signed off by a healthcare provider familiar with the individual’s health status and limitations.
Challenges in administering intermittent leave
Staffing disruptions
Like traditional sick leave, intermittent leave often comes with little advance notice. Its unpredictable and inconsistent nature can present staffing and operational challenges for companies and tiny businesses that run leanly. Businesses will need to find ways to work around these interruptions.
One helpful strategy is to look for ways to accommodate employees with health conditions with flexible work policies. You shouldn’t ever discourage employees from using their legal leave entitlement.
However, unpaid leave is financially straining for employees, especially those who may be dealing with costly medical bills as well.
Offering flexibility by adjusting work schedules to accommodate appointments can help employees maintain their income. Allowing work-from-home days when someone isn’t feeling well enough for an in-office shift can minimize business disruptions.
It’s also a good idea to cross-train employees on crucial functions so that a designated, adequately trained person can step in when someone takes a day off. This will help operations run smoothly while employees take intermittent or vacation leave.
Verifying the cause of absences
One potential issue with intermittent leave is that it’s meant to be taken for a qualifying serious health condition or disability. Someone on intermittent leave may have frequent unexpected absences due to their condition, which the FMLA or ADA will cover.
However, it can be hard to track whether an employee is taking a day off for a covered reason, just calling out for a common cold, or simply wanting a day off.
Absences should only be approved and recorded for leave if they fall under the qualifying reason the employee requested FMLA or other leave.
You shouldn’t be prying too hard about the cause of employee absences. However, suppose an employee is approved for intermittent leave. In that case, it is important to clarify if they’re calling out for regular sick or leave time so that you can record the absence correctly.
Tracking absences and monitoring limits
In addition to verifying that absences are being used for the proper reasons, keeping track of these absences can be an administrative challenge. Employees can take up to 12 weeks of leave, so you’ll need to track their time to know when they’ve hit that maximum leave entitlement.
Intermittent leave can be challenging to track because it’s often broken up into smaller increments, like partial days instead of full workdays or a whole week.
As a result, managers and human resources teams must be extra diligent in recording these different periods and keeping track of the employee’s remaining leave balance.
Of course, some people are eligible for added leave under the ADA. In addition, some companies provide flexibility concerning unpaid medical leave and time off.
They might even be open to offering additional time off or a permanently reduced schedule that goes beyond the FMLA requirements.
More Resources:
Intermittent FMLA leave management: The legal way to prevent abuse
FMLA pregnancy leave — everything employers and employees need to know
FMLA return to work guidelines for employers
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