Family Member's Serious Health Condition

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) – federal law that provides eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year (rolling 12-month period) for a qualifying family member's serious health condition.

• Eligibility – 12 months total service with employer, 1250 productive hours in the last 12 months

California Family Rights Act (CFRA) – California law that provides eligible employees with the right to take up to 12 weeks off work per year (rolling 12-month period) for a qualifying family member's or designated person's serious health condition.

• Eligibility – 12 months total service with employer, 1250 productive hours in the last 12 months

***FMLA and CFRA will run concurrently when applicable

Serious Health Condition – inpatient care, incapacity plus treatment, pregnancy, chronic conditions, permanent or long-term conditions, and conditions requiring multiple treatments. Click here for more in-depth information.

Qualifying family member – FMLA and CFRA have different definitions of a "family member"

• FMLA: child, spouse, or parent
• CFRA: child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling
  • Child – biological, adopted, or foster child, stepchild, legal ward, child of spouse or domestic partner, or a person to whom the employee stands in loco parentis
  • Parent – biological, foster, or adoptive parent, parent-in-law, stepparent, a legal guardian, or other person who stood in loco parentis to the employee

Designated person – any person related by blood to the employee or any person who is "like family" to the employee. An employee may identify only one designated person per 12-month rolling period.

Qualifying Health Care Provider – not all health care professionals are considered qualifying for the purposes of FMLA/CFRA. Here is a list of all health care providers that are accepted.

1. When you become aware of the need to take time off work for a qualifying family member’s serious health condition, contact your supervisor and your department’s HR team.

2. Once your department HR team is notified of the possible need for leave or intermittent time off, they will provide you with your rights and responsibilities via Notice I and will notify you via Notice III (found in the Leave of Absence packet) about:
   • if you are eligible for FMLA/CFRA,
   • what documentation is needed to determine if the leave is FMLA/CFRA qualifying, and
   • when documentation is due.
3. Get medical documents from the family member's qualifying health care provider. Medical documents must include the name, title, and contact information of the health care provider authorizing the time off. The County of Fresno Medical Certification form is available here(PDF, 161KB), however, other medical certification is sufficient if the below criteria is met.
   • If the request is for continuous leave, the documents must include:
     • period (start and end dates) of complete need for caring for a family member.
   • If for intermittent leave, the documents should include:
     • duration (start and end date) of intermittent leave,
     • frequency of need (days per week/month, hours per day, etc.), and
     • medical necessity [planned treatment (appointments), requires department approval; unforeseeable occurrences (flareups, etc.), requires following call-in procedures].
4. If the medical documents submitted are sufficient to determine FMLA/CFRA eligibility, your department HR team will notify you via Notice IV if your request is covered under FMLA/CFRA.
   • If medical documents submitted are not sufficient to determine FMLA/CFRA qualification, the department HR team will resend you Notice III with information on what is needed to determine eligibility.
5. Complete the Leave of Absence packet. The full packet can be found here(PDF, 5MB) or provided by your department HR team. Your HR team can instruct you on which pages need to be filled out or click here(PDF, 2MB) for the employee-only pages. Please read the pages carefully to ensure understanding before signing. If you have any questions about the packet or how to complete any portion, contact your HR team. 
   
   
6. Submit the completed pages to the appropriate people.
   • Most pages can be submitted to your department's HR team. Some pages (23-29(PDF, 461KB)) in the packet will need to be submitted to HR Employee Benefits, if applicable. Please carefully read the instructions on each page to ensure documents are submitted as indicated.
7. Contact HR Employee Benefits at 559/600-1810 for any questions related to health benefits while on leave.
   
   
8. Once all documents are submitted and accepted, your department will be able to assist you with:
   • the specifics of your leave,
   • when documents are due before any leave extensions (generally one week before current medical documents are exhausted), and
   • approximately when you will go unpaid (depending on wage replacement integration status).
9. Since caring for a family member is not for your own serious health condition, a medical release is not required for your return to work. Additionally, while medical documents may state a duration of a (possible) need for leave, less time may be used if you, the employee, request to take less time. You cannot be required to return to work during the time you have protected medical certification for.

As part of your leave, you must also decide how you will be paid. Depending on your union status, you may be able to apply for EDD wage replacement. If qualified, you can choose to:

1. only receive EDD wage replacement pay (once exhausted, you will be required to use your leave bank hours),
2. integrate your own leave bank balance with EDD wage replacement, or
3. only use your own leave bank without EDD wage replacement.

EDD Wage Replacement – Paid Family Leave (PFL)

Leave bank – Annual Leave, sick leave, comp time, etc.

Donations – must meet the criteria per Salary Resolution 618. Contact your department HR team for more information. Donation forms can be found here(PDF, 304KB). 

Here(PDF, 433KB) are some examples of how FMLA/CFRA can interact with different pay options depending on a couple of generic situations. Please keep in mind, these are examples and do not reflect what can happen in all situations.

Employee-Rights-Under-the-Family-and-Medical-Leave-Act.pdf(PDF, 71KB)

Fact-Sheet-CA-Family-Care-and-Medical-Leave.pdf(PDF, 506KB)

Expanded-Family-And-Medical-Leave-in-CA.pdf(PDF, 379KB)

Employee-Rights-under-the-Fair-Employment-and-Housing-Act.pdf(PDF, 446KB)

Paid-Family-Leave-de2511.pdf(PDF, 2MB)

Human Resources Manager - DayVonna Youngblood

Street Address:
2220 Tulare St., 14th floor
Fresno, CA 93721

Contact Information:
(559) 600-1810
(559) 455-4784 – Fax
HRBenefits@fresnocountyca.gov

Hours of Operation:
Monday-Friday
8:00am-5:00pm