Reconciling the Family Medical Leave Act With Overlapping or Conflicting State Leave Laws

For purposes of ease of reading, the citations to all of the states' family and medical leave laws mentioned in this article are set forth in Exhibit 1, in alphabetical order.

Under the FMLA, a serious health condition is defined as an “illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves inpatient care in a hospital, hospice or residential medical care facility, or continuing treatment by a health care provider.” Although the FMLA does not define “continuing treatment by a health care provider,” the Department of Labor regulations offer employees five means by which they can satisfy that requirement. Many states that provide leave for an employee's own serious health condition define that phrase similarly to the FMLA. However, some states have different definitions than the FMLA. Therefore, employers are urged to refer to the federal regulations and any applicable state laws when analyzing whether an employee has a serious health condition.

Of course, employers will be well served by taking into consideration the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and other antidiscrimination laws when deciding whether to grant maternity leave that is not covered by the FMLA or a state leave law.