• Employees may take intermittent FMLA leave for a variety of reasons.

Eligible employees may take Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave on an intermittent (or reduced schedule) basis when medically necessary, to proceed with adoption or foster care placement, or for qualifying family military emergencies.

When leave is needed for a serious health condition, there must be a medical need for it to be taken on an intermittent basis. A company may not require an employee to take more leave than is necessary to address the situation. The certification should indicate that intermittent leave is needed.

Employees may take intermittent leave for planned or unplanned medical treatment, or for recovery from treatment, or to provide care, including psychological comfort to a family member with a serious condition.

Chronic conditions often involve intermittent leave, sometimes foreseeable, and sometimes not. The employee need not receive treatment by a health care provider for each instance of intermittent leave, and employers may not request a certification (or doctor’s note) for each instance of intermittent leave.

Employer-approved intermittent leave

When leave is taken strictly for bonding with a healthy child, whether by birth, adoption, or foster placement, an employee is not automatically entitled to intermittent (or reduced schedule) leave. The employee may take leave on this basis only if the employer agrees.