State FMLA - Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 21, §§ 471, 472

Covered Employers: For the purposes of Vermont Family leave, employs 15 or more individuals who are employed for an average of at least 30 hours per week during a year.

Employee Eligibility: Employed for one year for an average of at least 30 hours per week.

Entitlement: 12 weeks for parental and family leave combined in any 12-month period. Leave can be taken intermittently.

Family Leave Only:

• The serious illness of the employee.

• The serious illness of the employee's child, stepchild or ward who lives with the employee, foster child, parent, parent-in-law or spouse.

Employer Notice: The employer must post and maintain notices regarding VT PFLA in a conspicuous place in each of the employer's places of business. State provides a poster for this purpose.

Employee Notice: An employee must give reasonable written notice of intent to take leave. Notice should include the date the leave is expected to commence and the estimated duration of the leave. An employee must also provide reasonable notice of the need to extend a leave.

Obligation to Provide Certifications or Documents Supporting Need for Leave: For a serious illness of the employee or a member of the employee's family, an employer may require certification from a physician to verify the condition and the amount and necessity for the leave requested.

Paid?: Unpaid. At the employee's option, the employee may use up to 6 weeks of accrued sick leave or vacation leave or any other accrued paid leave.

Benefits: The employer must continue employment benefits during the leave under the same terms and conditions as if the employee were continuously employed.

Reinstatement: Yes, offer the same or comparable job at the same level of compensation, employment benefits, seniority or any other term or condition of the employment existing on the day leave began. However, an employee is not entitled to reinstatement if the employer can demonstrate that: 1) during the leave, the employee's job would have been terminated or the employee laid off for reasons unrelated to the leave or the condition that gave rise to the leave, or 2) the employee performed unique services and hiring a permanent replacement after giving the employee notice of the intent to do so, was the only way to prevent substantial and grievous economic injury to the employer's operations.

Other Important Definitions/Requirements: A “spouse” includes parties to a civil union. “Serious illness” means an accident, disease, or physical or mental condition that: (a) poses imminent danger of death; (b) requires inpatient care in a hospital; or (c) requires continuing in-home care under the direction of a physician.

Absence Specifications