Own 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 their own 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 their own 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 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. Once you become aware of a serious health condition that may require time off work, contact your supervisor and your department’s HR team.
2. After 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 your 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 incapacity.
   • If for intermittent leave, the documents must include:
     • duration (start and end dates) 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 the 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 HR team will be able to assist you with:
   • the specifics of your leave,
   • what documents are needed before any return to work,
   • 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 disability integration status).
9. A “release” to return to work is required before you can report back to work. The County form is available here(PDF, 98KB) or your health care provider can release you from their forms.

As part of your leave, you must also decide how you will be paid. You may be eligible to apply for disability insurance. You can choose to:

1. only receive disability pay (after applicable waiting period),
2. integrate your own leave bank balance with disability pay, or
3. only use your own leave bank without disability pay.

Disability Insurance – State Disability Insurance (SDI), Police Officer’s Research Association of California (PORAC), Mutual of Omaha, Standard Insurance

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)

Disability-Insurance-Provisions-de2515.pdf(PDF, 741KB)

Human Resources - Employee Benefits
2220 Tulare St., 14th Floor
Fresno, CA 93721

(559) 600 - 1810
(559) 455 - 4787 - Fax
HRBenefits@fresnocountyca.gov

Office Hours
Monday - Friday
8am - 5pm