FMLA Leave Calculation in Holiday Workweeks

By Stephanie Dorning, JD, Employment Law Counsel
Published June 27, 2023

On May 30, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued an opinion letter clarifying the proper calculation method for employees who take time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in a week including a holiday. While the letter did not introduce any new information regarding leave calculation, it does provide valuable guidance for employers, particularly given the upcoming Independence Day holiday.

When it comes to identifying the correct increment for calculating FMLA leave, particularly in holiday workweeks, an employer’s first step should be to identify how the leave is being used – as a block of leave or on an intermittent basis. Block leave is generally intended to cover a set amount of time and usually represents a single instance of leave. Intermittent leave is intended to grant leave for an ongoing, chronic condition, and may be taken at specific intervals as indicated by the employee’s FMLA certification and healthcare provider. Calculating FMLA on an intermittent basis requires using the smallest amount of time requested by the employee, so long as the request complies with their FMLA certification. (Refer to our earlier article to determine if an employee’s certification is sufficient.)

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has long differentiated between how holidays affect leave calculations for employees using a full week, or “block” of leave, versus those who are taking smaller increments of leave in a single workweek. An employee who is taking leave of one or more full workweeks uses a full week of their FMLA entitlement, regardless of whether a holiday falls during that workweek. This means employees who use FMLA over the full week of Independence Day, Labor Day, etc., are credited as having used a full week of leave, even if their workplace is not open for the full week. 

Employees using FMLA on an intermittent or more limited basis are not subject to the same holiday calculation rules as those using a block of leave, and their leave allotment may not take into account the employer’s observed holidays. If an employee performs any work during a holiday workweek, the employer may not count the holiday against the employee’s leave entitlement. This means that if an employee uses FMLA leave on Monday and Wednesday, but Tuesday was an employer holiday, only two of the days may be credited against their FMLA entitlement. Because the employee did perform work during that workweek, only the actual days they were scheduled to report to work would be credited against their 12 weeks of leave. 

The May 30th letter clarified that some work must be performed by the employee in the workweek to remove the holiday from the FMLA calculations. If a holiday is observed on a Monday or Friday and the employee uses FMLA for the additional four workdays, a full week of leave is credited, rather than a partial week. An employee may not use the holiday to extend their FMLA beyond the 12 weeks to which they are entitled. 

Determining the correct method for calculating FMLA is always complicated; HR Source members are encouraged to contact us through the HR Hotline online or at 800-448-4584 with any questions.