Not all employers are covered by the FMLA. All public employers are covered, no matter how many employees they have. Private employers are covered if they have at least 50 employees in the U.S. who worked each working day during 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year. This includes part time and seasonal employees. Any employee whose name is on the payroll for every day of the week counts for that week. It does not matter if they received wages or not. The 20 weeks need not be consecutive.

Even if you are a covered employer, not all employees will be eligible to take FMLA leave; they need to meet certain eligibility criteria. If the reason for the leave qualifies for FMLA protections, you would need to provide those protections. Failure to do so can risk a claim that you interfered with an employee’s FMLA rights.