825.303 - What are the requirements for an employee to furnish notice
to an employer where the need for FMLA leave is not foreseeable?
- Standard Number: 825.303
- Standard Title: What are the requirements for an employee to
furnish notice to an employer where the need for FMLA leave is not foreseeable?
- SubPart Number: C
- SubPart Title: How Do Employees Learn of Their FMLA Rights and
Obligations, and What Can an Employer Require of an Employee?
(a) When the need for leave, or its approximate timing, is not
foreseeable, an employee should give notice to the employer of the need
for FMLA leave as soon as practicable under the facts and circumstances
of the particular case. It is expected that an employee will give notice
to the employer within no more than one or two working days of learning
of the need for leave, except in extraordinary circumstances. In the case
of a medical emergency requiring leave because of an employee's own serious
health condition or to care for a family member with a serious health condition,
written advance notice pursuant to an employer's internal rules and procedures
cannot be required when FMLA leave is involved.
(b) The employee should provide notice to the employer either in
person or by telephone, telegraph, facsimile (``fax'') machine or other
electronic means. Notice may be given by the employee's representative
(e.g., a spouse, family member or other responsible party) if the employee
is unable to do so personally. The employer will be expected to obtain
any additional required information through informal means. The employee
or representative will be expected to provide more information when it
can readily be accomplished as a practical matter, taking into consideration
the exigencies of the situation.