Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Prince George’s County offers both FMLA and FML to eligible County employees. For more details about these types of medical leave, or to apply for either type, please see the information below.
Family Medical Leave Act
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 is the federal law that requires employers to provide eligible employees with up to twelve (12) workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for qualifying family and medical reasons. It is the policy of Prince George’s County to comply with the provisions of the FMLA and the relevant regulations. The Office of Human Resources Management, Occupational Medical Services is responsible for processing all requests for FMLA related leaves for Prince George’s County departments.
- Eligibility: Employees must have been employed for 12 months and must have actually worked 1,250 hours during the previous 12 months.
- Coverage: 12 workweeks during any 12 months
- Family Members: Spouse, child, or parent
Prince George’s County Family Medical Leave
The County offers eligible employees enhanced Family Medical Leave (FML) benefits for up to 15 workweeks of any combination of paid and unpaid leave. Unless specifically identified in County Personnel Law Section 16-225.01 and/or Personnel Procedure 284 Section 11 (rev. 2017), the County administers FML pursuant to the federal FMLA regulations. OHRM is responsible for oversight of the processing and maintenance of all employee requests for FML received from the respective agency FML coordinators. Upon review of the requests and required supporting medical documentation, OMS is responsible for making a final FML determination on behalf of the OHRM Director (PL Sec.16-225.01, (c)).
- Eligibility: Employees must be eligible to earn annual leave and have been employed by County for 12 months; must be paid for 1,040 hours during the previous 12 months; and can be in any pay status in order to meet this threshold.
- Coverage: 15 workweeks during any 12 months
- Family Members: Spouse, child, parent, or parent-in-law
Resources and Forms:
- FML Request Form
- Employee’s Serious Health Condition Form - use when a leave request is due to the medical condition of the employee.
- Family Member’s Serious Health Condition Form - use when a leave request is due to the medical condition of the employee’s family member.
- Qualifying Exigency - use when the Military leave request arises out of the foreign deployment of the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent.
- Military Caregiver Leave of a Current Service Member - use when requesting leave to care for a family member who is a current service member with a serious injury or illness.
- Military Caregiver Leave of a Veteran - use when requesting leave to care for a family member is who a covered veteran with a serious injury or illness.
- FMLA vs FML Chart
- FMLA Frequently Asked Questions
- FMLA Poster
- FML Coordinator Verification Form
- Kronos Eligibility Verification Process
Disability Leave
Prince George’s County Disability Leave
Prince George’s County offers Disability Leave (DL) to eligible County employees. For more details about this type of medical leave or how to apply for DL, please see the information below.
The County offers eligible employees paid Disability Leave (DL) benefits that are not charged against an employee’s accrued annual or sick leave balances. Unless specifically identified in a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), County Personnel Law Section 16-224 and/or Personnel Procedure 284 Section 9 (rev. 2017) governs the County’s administration of DL benefits. OHRM is responsible for oversight of the DL program and liaisons with the County’s Onsite Medical Clinic (the Clinic), which serves as the County’s Medical Review Officer (MRO). The MRO is responsible for determining—at the time of the clinic visit—whether the medical condition presented is from a work-related incident/accident or if the condition is non-occupational, and for providing an appropriate duty status determination based on the employee’s current medical condition and position description.
- Covered Employees: Permanent full-time and part-time classified and exempt employees.
- Eligible Employees: Eligible employees must have timely reported that they believed an injury/illness was sustained directly in the performance of their work to their direct supervisor within 24 hours of their workplace incident/accident, unless extenuating circumstances prevented their timely report. The injury/illness must have caused the employee to be temporarily disabled and the employee must be medically evaluated by the Clinic until released to a full duty status by the Clinic.
- DL Pay: Eligible employees receive full, taxable wages while on approved DL, up to the amount of DL hours approved, depending on the number of hours employees actually missed from work on the day(s) DL was granted.
- DL Benefit Coverage: A maximum of 180 calendar days, unless extended by a collective bargaining agreement.
Disability Leave Resources and Forms:
- Disability Leave 2021 Update
- Disability Leave Frequently Asked Questions
- County Disability Leave vs. Maryland Workers' Compensation
Departmental Risk Coordinators (DRC) Resources and Forms:
- DRC Disability Leave Request and Review Process
- Checklist for Submission of Disability Leave Request
- Clinic Disability Leave Assessment Authorization Form
- Treating Physician Duty Status Recommendation
- Missed Clinic DL Assessment Appointment Template
- DL Denial Notice Template
- Medically-Related Modified Duty Welcome Template