Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Health Benefit Plans

Since 1996, employers subject to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) have been required to provide job-protected leaves of absence to covered workers. Workers’ rights under FMLA also include health care benefits protections. Final regulations published by the United States Department of Labor (DOL) in February 2013 expanded certain provisions of the FMLA. Although many employers understand the job protection aspect of FMLA, protecting and maintaining employee health care benefits during FMLA leave can be just as, if not more, challenging. During this one-hour refresher, the Regulatory and Legislative Strategy Team will be partnering with Brown & Brown’s Absence Consulting team to review and answer commonly asked questions, such as:

• What employers are subject to FMLA?
• What employees are eligible for FMLA?
• Under what circumstances can employees take job-protected FMLA leave?
• What are the job and health care benefit protections provided under FMLA?
• How does job-protected leave affect welfare benefits other than health care?
• What steps can be taken to help preserve benefit protections during and after an FMLA leave?

This program has been approved for 1.0 HRCI and SHRM credit.