UVA is committed to balancing the demands of your workplace, your individual needs, and the needs of your family. The University complies with the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq., and Regulations 29 C.F.R Part 825).
Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) is a job-protected leave without pay (or use of your accrued leave with pay) for up to 12 work weeks (26 weeks for qualified Military leave). For Academic, Medical Center, UPG and Wise employees, entitlement is based on a rolling 12 month period.
Reasons specified in the FMLA include:
Birth of a child (to be taken within 12 months of the child’s birth)
Addition to the family through adoption or foster care (to be taken within 12 months of the child’s placement)
Care for a family member (child, spouse, or parent) with a serious health condition
A serious health condition that makes you unable to do your job
Military leave for a qualified exigency or to care for a covered service member’s serious illness or injury. (You may be granted up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a covered military service member who sustained a serious injury or illness if you are the spouse, son, daughter, parent or next of kin.)
Eligible employees for Academic, Medical Center, and Wise employees must have been employed with UVA or the Medical Center for:
At least 12 months within the last 7 years
At least 1,250 hours during the 12 months before the start of leave
Eligible employees include University Physicians Group who have been employed at UPG for both:
At least 12 months within the last 7 years
At least 1,250 hours during the 12 months before the start of leave
How to Apply for Family Medical Leave
All employees at UVA and the Medical Center (except UPG, see below), contact our partner firm UNUM to apply for Family Medical Leave by calling 866.269.0979. Employees may access the UNUM website to provide requested documentation or report intermittent absences. Please note that upon the first visit to the website, you will need to register for an account.
Beginning January 1, 2020, UVA Academic Division will change the 12-month measuring period for FML from a leave year to a 12-month rolling period.
A "rolling" 12-month period is measured backward from the date an employee uses any FML leave. An employee who uses FML earns it back 12 months to the date after they used it.
For example, if an employee took 8 hours of FML on July 20, 2020, they earn 8 hours back on July 20, 2021.
The Medical Center has always been on a 12-month rolling period so there are no changes for this population.
To apply for or use Intermittent FMLA, contact UNUM.
If you have an intermittent leave, you must notify UNUM within 7 calendar days each time you need to take intermittent leave. In addition you also need to follow the standard notification process in your department to notify your supervisor.
If UNUM is not notified within 7 days of using intermittent FMLA, your leave under FMLA or State Leave law, where applicable, may be delayed or denied.
FMLA and Paid Time Off
Following FMLA guidelines, UVA Academic Division employees and Medical Center team members are not required to use Paid Time Off (PTO) while out on Short Term Disability (STD).
Medical Center team members are still required to use PTO while out on FMLA not associated with Short Term Disability.
Medical Center team members desiring to use available PTO once their STD benefits begin will need to email leave@virginia.edu to indicate their desire to supplement their STD benefits with PTO, as PTO will no longer automatically be entered on your behalf.
Academic employees should notify leave@virginia.edu if they wish to use their PTO to supplement their STD. For intermittent FMLA Academic employees may enter their own time off in Workday (Ustaff, Annual, Sick, etc...). Once an Intermittent FMLA period is approved by UNUM they will notify your supervisor and the supervisor can enter the Intermittent FMLA- unpaid code. Any paid time off previously entered will pull through to pay the employee.
For Exempt University staff, supervisors should reach out to leave@virginia.edu for assistance recording intermittent FMLA and time off.
Further information about Short Term Disability benefits can be found via the following link:
UPG uses a third party vendor, Principal Absence Management, to administer FMLA. Please contact Principal Absence Management to submit your claim. Your information will be verified by a Benefit Specialist who will initiate the Family Medical Leave process and answer any questions you may have. You will be notified of the status of your FMLA claim once it has been processed. If the need for FMLA is due to your own serious health condition, the FMLA office will initiate the claim with the STD department. Please see the Leave of Absence Policy for more detailed information.
FMLA is a job protection entitlement. It does not protect salary. UPG employees on FMLA are required to use accrued PTO to cover the absence. When PTO is exhausted, an employee on approved FMLA will be placed on leave without pay. When the absence is an approved short-term disability, STD benefits provide 70% income replacement. For more information, please see the Short-term Disability section on the UPG Benefits page.
Family and Medical Leave Policies
Detailed descriptions of FMLA Policies by employee type:
UVA_HR