Leaves of Absence (FMLA, Personal)
Employees should contact New York Life for their available FMLA and Personal Leave balances.
Leaves of absence let you take time away from work due to medical, family or personal reasons, as well as for time to serve in the uniformed services.
Employees can easily file a claim for a leave of absence online or can call New York Life at 888-842-4462 to file a leave of absence claim or to call for updates. Employees will be able to check the status of their leave of absence claim, disability claim, and can also check their balance of FMLA and Personal Leave.
**Please note, your leave of absence balance may take a few days to update on the website for recent updates related to your leave of absence.
- Set up an account on www.mynylgbs.com.
- Click here to see how to navigate around your online account with New York Life.
The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) may provide up to 12 weeks (26 weeks for Military Caregiver Leave) of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for certain family and medical reasons. FMLA also allows you to maintain your benefits. To be eligible for FMLA, you must be employed with Carilion for 12 months and have 1,250 hours of service. FMLA may be used for the following:
- The birth and care of a newborn child;
- The placement of a child for adoption or foster care;
- To care for an immediate family member (spouse, child or parent) with a serious medical condition;
- Your serious medical condition.
Spouses who work for the same employer share a total of 12 work weeks of (Federal) FMLA per leave year for:
- The birth of a child
- Placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care
- Care for a parent with a serious health condition
Carilion Clinic's internal FMLA company policy also follows federal guidelines with spouses (both employed by Carilion) expected to share the 12 weeks FMLA for the reasons as outlined in the three dot points above.
Your eligibility for FMLA is based on the federal guidelines and criteria for the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993. More information on FMLA is available in the Department of Labor’s FMLA guidelines.
Initial Leave of Absence is available to employees who do not meet the eligibility criteria for Family Medical Leave (FMLA) within the first twelve (12) months of employment. Carilion Clinic allows Full-Time, Regular-Part Time, or Part Time employees to be eligible for Initial Leave of Absence following their first thirty days (30) of employment. Initial Leave of Absence may be used for the following:
- The birth and care of a newborn child;
- The placement of a child for adoption or foster care;
- To care for an immediate family member (spouse, minor or dependent child or parent) with a serious medical condition;
- The employee's own serious medical condition.
Personal leave provides unpaid continuous leave for personal needs not covered under FMLA for a minimum of seven and a maximum of 42 days or for medical leave if you are not eligible for FMLA. To be eligible for personal leave, you must be a full-time, regular part-time or part-time employee and have no active disciplinary actions issued within the past 12 months.
For Personal Leave requests for your own serious health condition:
- New York Life will review your request and approve or deny based on your provider’s documentation.
- Your benefits will continue while you are on personal leave. Once you return to work, any missed benefit premiums will be deducted from your paycheck at twice the rate until full repayment is made.
- You are not guaranteed job protection for personal leave.
For all other Personal Leave requests:
- Employees may use one Personal Leave during a rolling-year 12-month period.
- Your manager must approve your personal leave request.
- Personal Leave may only be used for continuous absences of seven (7) to forty-two (42) days and may not be used intermittently.
- Your benefits will continue while on personal leave. Once you return to work, any missed benefit premiums will be deducted from your paycheck at twice the rate until full repayment is made.
- You are not guaranteed job protection while on personal leave.
If you are not eligible for an approved leave of absence, your absence will be considered under Carilion’s Attendance Policy.
Supplemental Leave for Childbirth is a leave option available to employees who are not eligible for FMLA, and who require up to 8 weeks of leave for their own personal recovery following the birth of a child.
- Supplemental Leave for Childbirth provides unpaid, job-protected, continuous leave of up to 8 weeks for personal recovery following the birth of a child should an employee not be eligible for FMLA or the need for leave exceeds available FMLA.
- Any FMLA available to the employee must be used and/or exhausted before Supplemental Leave for Childbirth may be used.
- Supplemental Leave for Childbirth is to be used only for the employee’s own recovery and is not intended to be used for bonding time or to extend bonding time beyond available FMLA.
- Employees who are ineligible for FMLA and require leave for medical conditions related to pregnancy or who require more than 8 weeks for recovery from childbirth may request accommodation under the ADA or VHRA.
- Employees may request a personal leave for bonding time once their supplemental leave for childbirth ends if the eligibility requirements are met for a personal leave of absence.
Carilion follows The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act (USERRA) guidelines if you are serving in the uniformed services. Contact your manager and The Standard once you receive your military orders. More information on military leave guidelines is available on the The Department of Labor’s USERRA Advisor website.
Should you need time away from work that may qualify as FMLA or any other type of leave offered by Carilion, be sure to let your manager know and contact New York Life by phone at 888-842-4462 or online at New York Life.
If you have been away from work due to your own medical condition for four or more days, you must provide a Return-To-Work form and be evaluated by Employee Health prior to returning to work.
If you want to return to work but have restrictions limiting your ability to perform your job duties, you may be allowed to return to a modified duty assignment if:
- A modified duty assignment is available within your department
- You can perform the duties of the modified work assignment within your specific restrictions
Contact Employee Health to determine if returning to work with restrictions is an option for you. If an appropriate modified duty assignment is available, you must provide a Return-To-Work form stating the specific restrictions and the length of time the restrictions apply to your job and be evaluated by Employee Health prior to returning to work.
Your benefits will continue while on approved FMLA or Personal Leave. Once you return to work, any missed benefit premiums will be deducted from your paycheck until full repayment is made. Most benefits will double deduct until full repayment has been made. Medical and Dental premiums will deduct at 25% of the current benefit deduction until full repayment has been made.
In the event that you do not return to work at the completion of your leave, medical and dental benefits will continue until the end of the month in which your leaves of absence ends. At that time, you will be offered COBRA to continue your benefits. You will still owe benefit premiums that were missed while on an approved leave.
Q: Will I be paid while I am out on FMLA or Personal Leave?
A: FMLA and personal leave do not provide pay. You must use your available PTO to receive pay while on a leave of absence. Once you have used all your available PTO your leave will be unpaid.
In the event that you are on FMLA due to your own serious medical condition you will use your PTO to receive pay for the first 14 days for the standard Short-Term Disability Plan and 7 days for the Short-Term Disability Buy-Up Plan. Upon approval of short-term disability (STD) on the 14th or 7th day of leave, depending on coverage level, you will receive pay from our STD provider. If you do not have enough PTO for the first 14 or 7 days, depending on coverage level, prior to STD approval the time will be unpaid. More information on the STD benefit is available on the Disability page.
Q: Will my benefits continue while on FMLA or personal leave?
A: Yes, your benefits will continue while on an approved FMLA or personal leave. In the event that you do not return to work at the completion of your leave, medical and dental benefits will continue until the end of the month in which your leave of absence ends. At that time you will be offered COBRA to continue your benefits. Life and disability benefits will end of the date of separation.
Once you return to work, any missed benefits premiums will be deducted from your paycheck. Most benefits will double deduct until full repayment has been made. Medical and Dental premiums will deduct at 25% of the current benefit deduction until full repayment has been made.
Q: How do I know how much time I have for FMLA or Personal Leave?
A: Please call New York Life at 888-842-4462 since they are the official timekeeper for FMLA and Personal Leave hours.
Q: Can I receive donated PTO while on a leave of absence?
A: Yes, while on an approved leave of absence due to a personal medical condition or medical condition of a family member you may receive donated PTO in eight-hour increments. More information on can be found on the PTO Donation page.
Q: How do I make changes to benefits while on leave?
A: Please contact the HR Service Center via Employee Center for assistance with making changes to your benefits. You have 31 days from the qualifying event date (i.e. date of birth or adoption) to make changes to your benefits and to submit required documentation (i.e. Birth Certificate OR Proof of Birth Letter provided by hospital OR Adoption decree/order with the judge's signature and circuit clerk's file stamp OR petition for adoption with the circuit clerk's file stamp).
For more information, contact Human Resources through the Employee Center.
