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Family Medical Leave

Family Medical Leave

Overview

Under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), you are eligible to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid family/medical leave and be restored to the same or a comparable position upon your return from leave if:

  • You have been employed by the Publicis for at least 12 months (The 12-month threshold includes periods of paid and unpaid leave (sick, vacation) during which benefits or compensation are provided. If you are rehired by the company, employment periods prior to a break in service of seven years or more are not counted (longer if the break was the result of certain military service) toward the 12-month employment requirement.);

  • You have worked at least 1250 hours within the last 12-month period for the Publicis

     (Only actual hours worked are counted towards the 1,250 threshold); and

  • You work at a workplace with 50 or more employees within a 75 mile radius.

The 12-month period in which you may take 12 weeks of leave will be measured as a “rolling” 12-month period dating back from the time you request the leave.

Reasons for Leave

  1. The birth of a son or daughter and in order to care for such son or daughter; the placement of a son or daughter with you for adoption or foster care and in order to care for the newly placed son or daughter.

    • A leave for these reasons must be completed within the 12-month period beginning on the date of birth, adoption or placement. In addition, spouses employed by the Publicis who request leave for this reason may only take a combined total of 12 weeks leave during any 12-month period.

  2. To care for a spouse, son, daughter, parent (“covered relation”) or domestic partner (as qualified by the company’s affidavit*) with a serious health condition.

  3. Because of your own serious health condition which renders you unable to perform an essential function of your position.

  4. To care for family members with serious injuries or illnesses incurred in the line of duty while on active duty in the Armed Forces provided that such injury or illness may render the family member medically unfit to perform duties of the member’s office, grade, rank or rating. (This reason for leave is known as “Military Caregiver Leave.”**)

  5. To handle various non-medical exigencies arising out of the fact that a covered family member is on active duty or on call to active duty status. There are eight types of “qualifying exigencies” which may qualify for this type of FMLA leave.

    • Short-notice deployment: leave to address any issue that arises from an impending call or order to active duty in support of a contingency operation seven days or less prior to the date of deployment;

    • Military events and related activities: leave to attend any military ceremony, program, or event related to the active duty or call to active duty status or to attend certain family support or assistance programs and informational briefings;

    • Child care and school activities: leave to arrange or provide for child care or school-related activities;

    • Financial and legal arrangements: leave to make or update various financial or legal arrangements;

    • Counseling: leave to attend counseling (by someone other than a health care provider) when necessary as a result of the active duty or call to active duty status;

    • Rest and recuperation: leave to spend time with a covered military member who is on short-term, temporary, rest- and –recuperation leave during the period of deployment (up to five days);

    • Post-deployment activities: leave to attend arrival ceremonies (including funeral or memorial services), reintegration briefings and events, and any other official ceremony or program sponsored by the military for a period of 90 days following active duty status; and

    • Additional activities: leave to address other events arising from military duty agreed upon between employer and employee.

Military Caregiver Leave

When leave is to care for an injured or ill service member (“Military Caregiver Leave”), an eligible employee may take up to 26 workweeks of leave during a single 12-month period to care for the service member. Leave to care for an injured or ill service member, when combined with other FMLA-qualifying leave, may not exceed 26 weeks in a single 12-month period. The single 12-month period for purposes of this leave entitlement begins on the first day an eligible employee takes leave to care for the injured service member.

* The Publicis must have completed a domestic partner affidavit or will need to complete one if none is on file.

** Military Caregiver Leave is available to a wide range of family members — spouses, children, parents and those “next of kin” of the covered service member. The term “next of kin” only applies to Military Caregiver Leave. It means the nearest blood relative of the service member, expanding the definition to include siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and first cousins.

Contacts

Benefits Service Center

1-800-933-3622

Weekdays, 8:00 am – 8:00 pm ET

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