FMLA & Leave of Absence
If there is a situation in which an employee needs to take a leave of absence, various options are available, depending on the employee's length of service:
Table of Contents
FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act)
FMLA is a leave of absence of up to 12 weeks in a 12-month period. Available to employees who have been employed for at least one year, have worked 1,250 hours in the 12-month period preceding the leave, and who have a qualifying need.
Non-FMLA Medical Leave of Absence
A leave of absence for up to 90 calendar days in a 12-month period for the serious health condition of the faculty or professional staff member or their immediate family member. Types of conditions are outlined in policies listed below.
Personal Leave of Absence
Allows a leave of absence for 30 calendar days in a 12-month period for approved reasons (medical, non-medical, education, family-related, extended vacation, etc.). The length of the leave, and Drexel's ability to grant it, will depend upon the department's or college's ability to make personnel adjustments that will ensure its continuous and satisfactory functioning during the employee's absence.
Military Family Leave
Drexel offers up to 26 weeks of leave to Faculty and Professional Staff Members who provide care to wounded U.S. military personnel and 12 weeks of FMLA leave to the immediate family members of soldiers, reservists and members of the National Guard who have a “qualifying exigency” as defined below.
Qualifying Exigency is defined as one or more of the following:
- short notice (seven days or less) of deployment, military events and related activities;
- childcare, school activities, financial and legal arrangements, counseling, rest and recuperation, post-deployment activities; or
- any other events which arise out of the covered military member's active duty or call to active duty status that the employer and Faculty and Professional Staff Member have agreed upon
Military Leave & USERRA
- Drexel supports and accommodates faculty and professional staff Members who volunteer or who are called to serve military obligations (voluntary or involuntary) in the Armed Services of the United States or any of the reserve components of these services. Leaves of absence in these cases will be governed in accordance with applicable law. The University provides military leave to employees in accordance with the Uniformed Service Employment and Re-employment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).
- Your Rights Under USERRA [PDF]
- View the Drexel Military Leave Policy (HR-34)
Employees requesting FMLA/Non-FMLA Medical Leave of Absence or Military Family/Military Leave will need to apply with our administrator, Lincoln Financial Group.
- To apply by phone, call 1.888.992.0549
- To apply online, log in to DrexelOne and select Leave of Absence in the My Benefits section under the Employee tab.
To apply for a Personal Leave of Absence please contact your HR Business Partner.
Under a Philadelphia law titled 'Entitlement to Leave Due to Domestic or Sexual Violence," if you or a family or household member, have been the victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking you may be entitled to take certain amounts of unpaid leave from work. Learn more about your rights on the this flyer [PDF] or visit the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations website.
During an employee's leave of absence, Human Resources (HR) will manage all time/leave reporting. HR will maintain reporting responsibility from the pay period in which an employee goes out on leave through the pay period in which they actively return to work. During this time, employees should not submit their time, and the employee's supervisor will not need to approve time. If an employee returns to work before the end of a pay period, the hours worked should be submitted via email to loa@drexel.edu with the employee's supervisor included on the email message. Time/leave reporting responsibility is then returned to the employee during the pay period following the return from leave of absence.
Please follow the instructions below to access the online training session for "Family Medical Leave – What You Need to Know."
- Log in to DrexelOne.
- Select the Employee tab.
- Select Career Pathway under the My Career header.
- Click the Learning tab.
- Click "Browse for Training" to find the "Family Medical Leave – What You Need to Know" session.
- It will take approximately 30 minutes to complete the session.
Any employee who has a medical condition that they feel may rise to the level of a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) and is interested in requesting reasonable accommodations in order to meet the essential functions of their job should contact Human Resources at Drexel University. They can be reached by phone at 215.895.1410 or by email at hrdisability@drexel.edu. Please visit the Disability Resources for Employees page for information. Contacting Human Resources is voluntary.