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You may be entitled to a job-protected family or medical leave of absence if you are unable to come to work due to pressing family or medical concerns as described below:
FMLA Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible for FMLA you must:
- Have been employed by ACE for twelve (12) months.
- Have worked at least 1250 hours for ACE over the preceding twelve (12) months; and
- Your ACE and work location have more than 50 employees in a 75 mile radius.
FMLA may be taken for the following reasons:
- Birth of or to care for a newly born child
- Placement of a child with you for adoption or foster care
- To care for an immediate family member (for example, your spouse, child or parent) with a serious health condition
- A serious health condition of your own
- To care for a spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin that is a member of the Armed Forces, including a member of the National Guard or Reserves, who is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy, is otherwise in outpatient status, or is otherwise on the temporary disability retired list, for a serious injury or illness.
- Any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent of the employee is on active duty or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty in the Armed Forces in support of a contingency operation.
Leaves which qualify under both the Family and Medical Leave Act and any other law or ACE policy will run concurrently.
Your Rights
If you are eligible for FMLA, you may receive up to twelve (12) work weeks of unpaid leave during any “rolling” twelve (12) month period, unless your FMLA is to care for an immediate family member in the Armed Forces, in which case you are permitted twenty-six (26) weeks leave within the rolling twelve (12) month period. You must conclude FMLA for the birth or placement of a child for adoption or foster care within twelve (12) months of the birth or placement.
You may take FMLA intermittently when medically necessary for your own or immediate family member’s serious health condition. However, you may not take intermittent leave for the birth of a child, to care for a newly-born child, or for the placement of a child for adoption or foster care. If you request an intermittent or reduced schedule leave for reasons that are foreseeable based upon planned medical treatment, ACE may, at its discretion, temporarily reassign you to an available alternate position with equivalent pay and benefits if the alternative position would better accommodate the intermittent or reduced leave schedule and it does not interfere with medical treatment.
Upon completing an FMLA, you will be reinstated to your original or an equivalent position. However, reinstatement may be denied if:
- ACE eliminates your position while you are on leave and ACE would have eliminated the position even if you had not been on leave; or
- If you fail to provide ACE with the required post-leave fitness for duty certification, or fail to comply with the requirements of the Family and Medical Leave Act.
If, due to your own medical circumstance, you are no longer able to perform your original job, ACE will attempt to transfer you to a similar position, if available, for which you are the best-qualified candidate. You will typically be paid the appropriate wage rate for the new position.
Requirements and Information
Except in cases of emergency, your request for leave must be made in writing at least two weeks prior to the beginning of the requested leave period. If your child, spouse, parent, or you suffer a serious health condition which creates a need for an unforeseeable family or medical leave, your leave of absence request information must be submitted to HR no later than the sixteenth (16th) calendar day from the date your leave commences. HR will provide you with a Leave of Absence Request form and the FMLA Medical Certification form. These forms will be necessary for you to complete for approval of a FMLA.
FMLA will start on the date of request or date of qualification for FMLA, and not only after the exhaustion of paid time off, such as personal leave. Thus, for example, if you are on personal leave or other leave of absence which has not been designated as FMLA, and you have a condition that turns into a serious health condition or otherwise develop a serious health condition during such leave, the ACE may designate all or some portion of the leave as FMLA. ACE may designate your leave as FMLA going forward, even though you did not specifically request leave as FMLA.
During your FMLA for a serious health condition, you must have the attending physician complete an updated FMLA medical certification form every thirty (30) days. This form must be returned to HR immediately upon completion by physician. You are required to use any paid time off that you have available at the beginning of your FMLA. Please consult with HR for details.
During your FMLA, ACE will continue to pay its portion of the benefit premiums. You will be responsible for your benefit premiums while you are out on FMLA. Your health care coverage will cease if your premium payment is more than 30 days late. Failure to timely pay your benefit premiums will result in termination of your benefits although, upon returning from your leave, it may be possible for you be added back to the benefit plans.
If both you and your spouse are employed by ACE and request a leave to care for an immediate family member other than your spouse, you will be allowed only twelve (12) weeks combined leave between the two of you unless your leave is to care for an immediate family member in the Armed Forces, in which case you are permitted twenty-six (26) weeks combined leave.
To facilitate your return to work, please give your supervisor/manager at least one week advance notice of your intended return date. Failure to do so may delay your return date. If you are able to work but fail to return on the agreed expiration date of a FMLA or medical leave, or you have not requested or do not have an approved extension for additional leave, you will be considered voluntarily terminated.
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