• FREE RESOURCES
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
        • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for HR Professionals
          Employment Law
          Labor Law Posting Requirements: Everything You Need to Know
          Recruiting
          businesswoman selecting future employees on digital interfaces
          Recruiting Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
          Performance Management
          vector image of young female making star rating
          Performance Review Resources
          Employment Law
          Understanding Equal Employment Opportunity and the EEOC
          Recruiting
          Onboarding Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR

  • LOGIN
  • SIGN UP FREE

HR Morning

  • FREE RESOURCES
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
        • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for HR Professionals
          Employment Law
          Labor Law Posting Requirements: Everything You Need to Know
          Recruiting
          businesswoman selecting future employees on digital interfaces
          Recruiting Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
          Performance Management
          vector image of young female making star rating
          Performance Review Resources
          Employment Law
          Understanding Equal Employment Opportunity and the EEOC
          Recruiting
          Onboarding Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • Performance Management
  • HR Technology
  • More
    • Leadership & Strategy
    • Compensation
    • Staff Administration
    • Policy & Procedures
    • Wellness
    • Staff Departure
    • Employee Services
    • Work Location
    • HR Career & Self-Care
    • Health Care
    • Retirement Plans

Wait … there are how many people on FMLA leave?

Christian Schappel
by Christian Schappel
September 30, 2015
2 minute read
  • SHARE ON

A new analysis of how many U.S. workers are actually taking FMLA leave at any given time — and why they’re taking it — clearly illustrates why administering this type of leave has become such a huge pain in the butt. 
FMLASource is a third-party FMLA administration program offered by ComPsych Corporation, an EAP provider. ComPsych provides services to more than 29,000 organizations covering 78 million people. As a result, it has a wealth of employee data on its hands.
Recently, it put that data to use looking for FMLA-usage trends and benchmarks — and what it found was staggering: At any given time, 10.7% of the U.S. workforce is on FMLA leave.
That’s right, according to FMLASource’s analysis, one in every 10 employees is taking FMLA leave right now. And that’s the average — in some industries the number is far greater.
For example, in health care organizations and call centers, the number of people on FMLA leave at a given time is as much as 30%.

Breaking down the numbers

The analysis also looked into the types of FMLA leave employees are taking, the average duration and the top qualifying reasons.
The findings:

  • 63.6% of employees are on continuous FMLA leave
  • 34.9% are on intermittent leave
  • 1.5% are on a reduced work schedule.

The average duration of leave: 14.2 days.
The top reasons for leave:

  • 64.1% of the time it’s due to employees’ own health conditions (see below for a breakdown of what these conditions are)
  • 17% of the time it’s to provide care for a loved one
  • 9.1% of the time it’s due to pregnancy
  • 6.8% of the time it’s to care for a new child.
  • The remaining 3% was attributed to “other.”

The medical conditions for which employees are taking leave:

  • Surgery — 36%
  • Pregnancy (no complications) — 13%
  • Bonding — 10%
  • Cancer — 7%
  • Knee surgery — 5%
  • Hospitalization — 5%
  • Pregnancy (complications) — 4%
  • Depression/anxiety — 4%
  • Broken bone — 3%
  • Back injury — 3%
  • Migraine — 2%
  • Back surgery — 2%
  • Asthma/COPD — 2%
  • Heart surgery — 2%
  • Accident — 2%

Finally, FMLASource dug into the top reasons employees’ leave requests were denied:

  1. Employee’s supporting documentation wasn’t received in the allotted amount of time.
  2. Employee’s requested dates weren’t certified by a physician.
  3. Documentation for leave wasn’t received at all.
  4. Employee was ineligible for FMLA leave.
  5. Employee had exhausted his or her allotted amount of leave time. ***

*** It’s important to mention that just because someone’s exhausted his or her 12 weeks of leave under the FMLA, the employee may still be eligible for additional leave under the ADA.
This has been a point of emphasis for the DOL over the past year. Here’s our breakdown of why, how and when you must grant leave under the ADA.
For a visual representation of all the data outlined above, check out ComPsych/FMLASource’s latest infographic “FMLA By The Numbers.”

Get the latest from HRMorning in your inbox PLUS immediately access 10 FREE HR guides.

I WANT MY FREE GUIDES

Keep Up To Date with the Latest HR News

With HRMorning arriving in your inbox, you will never miss critical stories on labor laws, benefits, retention and onboarding strategies.

Sign up for a free HRMorning membership and get our newsletter!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
HR Morning Logo
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linked In
  • ABOUT HRMORNING
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • WRITE FOR US
  • CONTACT
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • HR Technology
  • Performance Management
  • Leadership & Strategy
  • Compensation & Payroll
  • Policy & Culture
  • Staff Administration
  • Wellness & Safety
  • Staff Departure
  • Employee Services
  • Work Location
  • HR Career & Self-Care

HRMorning, part of the SuccessFuel Network, provides the latest HR and employment law news for HR professionals in the trenches of small-to-medium-sized businesses. Rather than simply regurgitating the day’s headlines, HRMorning delivers actionable insights, helping HR execs understand what HR trends mean to their business.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Copyright © 2021 SuccessFuel

WELCOME BACK!

Enter your username and password below to log in

Forget Your Username or Password?

Reset Password

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Log In

During your free trial, you can cancel at any time with a single click on your “Account” page.  It’s that easy.

Why do we need your credit card for a free trial?

We ask for your credit card to allow your subscription to continue should you decide to keep your membership beyond the free trial period.  This prevents any interruption of content access.

Your card will not be charged at any point during your 21 day free trial
and you may cancel at any time during your free trial.

preloader