FMLA Eligibility Calculator (12 Months and 1,250 Hours)

Who is eligible for FMLA leave?

An employee is eligible for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act when they work for a covered employer and meet three tests on the date the leave is to start: they have been employed by the employer for at least 12 months, they worked at least 1,250 hours of service in the 12 months immediately before the leave, and they work at a site where the employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles. All three are required, and all three are in 29 CFR 825.110.

The employer has to be covered as well. A private employer is covered with 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or previous calendar year. Public agencies and public or private elementary and secondary schools are covered whatever their size. The calculator checks the three employee tests; the employer coverage is a separate question.

How are the 12 months with the employer counted?

The 12 months do not have to be consecutive. Any week in which the employee is on the payroll for any part of it counts as a week of employment, including a week of paid or unpaid leave during which the employer provides benefits or compensation, such as workers’ compensation or group health coverage. For intermittent or casual work, 52 weeks equals 12 months.

Employment before a break in service of seven years or more generally does not count. There are two exceptions: the break was for military service covered by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, or a written agreement, including a collective bargaining agreement, provides for rehire after the break. An employer may also choose to count older employment if it does so for everyone with a similar break. The calculator counts from the single start date you enter, so adjust it if one of these applies.

How are the 1,250 hours counted?

The hours are hours of service in the 12 months immediately before the leave starts, counted by the rules for hours worked in the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 CFR part 785). Any accurate record of actual hours can be used. If the employer has no accurate records, including for exempt employees, the employer has to show clearly that the employee did not work 1,250 hours. Averaged over 52 weeks, 1,250 hours is 24.04 hours a week, so a person who averages 24 hours a week over a full year is just under the line.

Weeks with no hours reduce the total. An employee who averages 30 hours a week but worked only 40 of the last 52 weeks has 1,200 hours and does not meet the test, even though 30 hours a week looks like enough.

What does 50 employees within 75 miles mean?

The employee’s worksite must have 50 or more of the employer’s employees within 75 miles of it. The test is applied on the date the employee gives notice of the need for leave. Once an employee is eligible for that leave, a later drop in headcount does not end it, and the employer cannot end leave already started because the count falls below 50. An employer with 60 employees in August that expects 40 by December still has to grant leave starting in December if it was requested in August.

How much FMLA leave is an eligible employee entitled to?

Up to 12 workweeks in a 12-month period for the birth and care of a newborn, adoption or foster placement, caring for a spouse, child or parent with a serious health condition, the employee’s own serious health condition that prevents them from doing the job, and qualifying exigencies arising from a family member’s covered military duty. Up to 26 workweeks in a single 12-month period applies to caring for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness, and the 26 weeks cover all FMLA reasons combined. For leave taken in one block that starts on January 4, 2027, 12 workweeks run through March 28, 2027.

The leave is unpaid under federal law, although an employee may be able to use paid leave the employer provides, and the employer must keep group health coverage going on the same terms. After leave the employee is generally restored to the same job or an equivalent one with the same pay, benefits and terms, and the employer cannot retaliate for asking for or taking leave. Some states give more leave or pay during it.

How is the 12-month period measured?

The employer chooses one of four methods and has to apply it to all employees. Switching requires 60 days’ notice and cannot be used to avoid the Act. If the employer does not choose, the method most favorable to the employee applies.

What does this calculator not decide?

It checks the three employee tests from your answers. It does not decide whether the employer is covered, whether a condition is a serious health condition, whether the reason is one the Act lists, whether notice or certification is required, or how a variable schedule turns 12 workweeks into hours. A few groups, such as airline flight crew, have special rules, and state and local laws can give more. Ask your HR department or the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division for a decision on a real case.

Common FMLA eligibility mistakes

Most eligibility mistakes come from counting the wrong dates, the wrong 12 months of hours or the wrong group of employees, and from treating eligibility as approval.

• Counting from the date of the request instead of the date the leave starts.
• Thinking the 12 months have to be consecutive.
• Counting hours from the wrong 12 months; it is the 12 months immediately before the leave starts.
• Assuming any part-time worker is ineligible. About 24 hours a week over a full year reaches 1,250 hours.
• Counting all 50 employees company-wide instead of within 75 miles of the worksite.
• Forgetting that the employer must also be covered.
• Treating eligibility as approval; the reason and certification still matter.