Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires certain public employers to give eligible employees time off to care for newborn or newly adopted children, for seriously ill family members, for the employee's own illness, for a relative injured on active military duty, or any qualifying emergency related to a family member's call-up to active military duty.

Eligible employees are entitled to a total of 12 weeks of FMLA leave each year (26 weeks for relatives injured in active military duty).

Effects on IMRF benefits

IMRF Death and Disability Benefits

IMRF member on FMLA leave will remain eligible for IMRF disability and death benefits if they were eligible for those benefits when the leave began. FMLA leave will not interrupt IMRF disability and death benefit protection.

The usual disability rules require an IMRF member to have 12 months of continuous service credit in order to be eligible for IMRF disability benefits. This rule will not apply if a member's gap in IMRF service is due to an FMLA leave.

IMRF members on FMLA leave will not earn pension service credit for the month(s) in which they are not paid. If a member on FMLA leave wishes to receive IMRF pension service credit, the member must apply for an IMRF Benefit Protection Leave and pay the member contributions and any applicable interest.

IMRF Benefit Protection Leave

An IMRF Benefit Protection Leave usually is granted at the discretion of the employer. However, if a member on FMLA leave requests an IMRF Leave, FMLA regulations require the employer to grant the IMRF Leave, if the employer ever granted an IMRF leave to any member in the past.

However, if an employer has never granted an IMRF Benefit Protection Leave and a member on FMLA requests one, the employer is not required to grant the leave under the legislation.

More information

For more information on FMLA, please refer to Paragraph 6.40-7 the IMRF Manual for Authorized Agents.