DOL Clarifies FMLA and State PFML Interaction

In Opinion Letter FMLA 2025-01-A, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) addressed the interaction between state and local paid family and medical leave (PFML) and leave taken under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

The FMLA provides 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for specified family and medical reasons. While FMLA leave is unpaid, the law allows the employee to elect, or an employer to require the employee, to substitute accrued employer-provided paid leave (such as paid vacation or paid sick leave) for any part of the unpaid FMLA leave.

The DOL’s opinion letter states that although the FMLA statute and regulations do not address state or local PFML, employers must designate PFML as FMLA leave when it is also FMLA-qualifying. Furthermore, the employer and employee may agree to use the employee’s accrued paid leave from the employer to supplement the PFML payments, as permitted by state law.

However, the FMLA’s substitution provision does not apply. Neither the employer nor the employee may unilaterally require that employer-provided accrued paid leave run concurrently with PFML taken for an FMLA purpose. Other than the substitution provision, all of the protections of the FMLA, including its anti-retaliation provisions, apply during the time the PFML and the FMLA leave run concurrently. Additionally, the substitution provision would apply for any remaining FMLA leave once the state or local paid leave is exhausted.

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