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Is My Firm Subject To FMLA?

We Don't Always Have 50 Employees. Is My Firm Subject To FMLA?

Not all employers are subject to the Family & Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). Private employers are subject to the FMLA if they employ (i.e., name appears on the payroll) 50 or more employees on each working day during each of 20 or more workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year. These employers are "covered employers" for purposes of the FMLA.

But what if we have 48 employees in some weeks and 52 in others?

If your company is close to the 50-employee threshold, or your employee count fluctuates around 50 during the year, this issue may require a more exacting computation. Here is a way to do it:

  1. Evaluate the prior complete calendar year
  2. Take the last workweek of the prior calendar year
  3. Determine the number of employees that were on the payroll that week
  4. Reduce this number by: one for every employee who started employment with the organization after the first working day of that week; and by one for every employee who terminated employment with the organization before the last working day of that week
  5. If the number in #4 is 50 or more, count this as "one workweek." If the number in #4 is less than 50, then do not count the week
  6. Now take the next prior workweek (i.e., the second to the last workweek of the prior calendar year), and repeat steps 3-5. Continue until you either reach 20 workweeks that must be counted (i.e., satisfy the 50 employees/20 workweeks requirement, or you get to the first workweek of the prior calendar year
  7. Evaluate the current calendar year
  8. Starting with the most recently competed workweek in the current calendar year, perform steps 3-5
  9. Continue applying steps 3-5 to each workweek completed in the current calendar year. If you reach 20 workweeks that need to be counted, you satisfy the 50 employees/20 workweeks requirement. If you reach the beginning of the current calendar year without having reached 20 workweeks counted, monitor the remaining workweeks in the current calendar year as they occur
  10. If you have 20 or more workweeks that need to be counted in the preceding calendar year, you were subject to the FMLA for the preceding calendar year and are subject to the FMLA for the current year
  11. If you have 20 or more workweeks that need to be counted in the current calendar year, you are subject to the FMLA for the current year and the next calendar year following
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