Leave of Absence Tracking Template

A leave request doesn't need a form or the right words. The Labor Department says that when an employee first seeks leave for an FMLA reason, they need not expressly assert FMLA rights or even mention the FMLA². The EEOC says accommodation requests can be made in plain English, without mentioning the ADA¹: "I need six weeks off to get treatment for a back problem" counts.

Ask managers to pass any mention of a medical or family reason to HR the same day, without asking for a diagnosis. HR then opens one record per request:

• The date, who heard it and the employee's own words
• The reason: their own health, a family member's health, a new child or a military family need
• Hire date, worksite and usual weekly hours
• The planned start date, and any paid or unpaid leave in the 12 months before it

Start with coverage. The FMLA applies to private employers with 50 or more employees for at least 20 workweeks² in the current or preceding calendar year. Public agencies and schools are covered at any size.

Take care with the hours. The Labor Department says the 1,250 hours include only those hours actually worked²: paid and unpaid leave, including FMLA leave, don't count. Payroll's hours-paid total includes vacation and sick pay, so it can show an employee over the line who is really short.

Count hourly staff from time records, not schedules, so overtime counts. For salaried exempt staff without hour records, the regulations say eligibility for FMLA leave is presumed³ once they have been employed 12 months.

Once an employee asks, or you learn the leave may qualify, you have 5 business days to tell them whether they are eligible⁴, absent extenuating circumstances. If they aren't, the notice must give at least one reason, such as the hours worked.

Then track the balance. The regulations allow four ways to measure the 12-month leave year⁵, such as the calendar year or a rolling year counted back from each use. Pick one, use it for everyone, and log intermittent leave in hours.

The ADA covers employers with 15 or more employees and has no minimum tenure or hours. The EEOC says an employer must consider providing unpaid leave⁶ as a reasonable accommodation for a disability, unless it would cause undue hardship. That holds even if the employee doesn't qualify under the employer's leave policy or has used up their FMLA leave.

The EEOC also says leave requested for a medical condition must be treated as a request for reasonable accommodation⁶, so open an ADA record beside the FMLA one. If the FMLA or your policy covers the leave, grant it that way. If not, start the interactive process promptly: talk through why the employee needs leave, whether it is one block or intermittent, and when it will end. Record each option, the decision and why.

Pregnancy has its own law. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, in force since June 27, 2023, applies to employers with 15 or more employees. They must accommodate known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions⁷, absent undue hardship, and can't force leave when another accommodation would let the employee keep working.

The Labor Department says employees returning from FMLA leave get the same job, or one that is nearly identical². If you require a fitness-for-duty certification (a doctor's note that they can work), you must give notice of that requirement with the designation notice⁴. If your employee handbook clearly says when one is needed, that notice can be oral.

Treat the day leave runs out as a decision point, not an end date. The EEOC says an employer may have to grant leave beyond its maximum⁶ as an accommodation unless that causes undue hardship. It adds that a "100%" healed rule violates the ADA when the employee could do the job with or without a reasonable accommodation, absent undue hardship.

There is a limit: when an employee can't say whether or when they will return, the EEOC treats that indefinite leave as an undue hardship. About a week before leave ends, ask whether they can come back and what they will need. If your end-of-leave letter says return or be terminated, add a line inviting a request for more time.

Give any temporary accommodation, like a reduced schedule, a written review date. If ending employment still looks likely, work through an employee termination checklist that tests the timing against recent leave and accommodation requests.

After the employee returns, don't hold the leave against them in attendance records or performance reviews. The Labor Department gives counting FMLA leave against employees in points-based attendance policies² as an example of prohibited retaliation. If someone says they were punished for taking leave, look into it with a workplace investigation.

To skip the setup, start from the template on this page: a case register, deadline tracker and return plan with four sample cases. Open it in River and it works out hours actually worked from the schedule and leave you describe before calling anyone eligible.