2012 Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Surveys

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Release Date: September 15, 2012

2012 Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Surveys

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About the Study

The 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows eligible employees working for covered employers to take up to 12 work weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for certain family and medical reasons.

The 2012 study included phone and online surveys with employees and employers (“worksites”). The employee survey used random-digit dial (RDD) with computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) to complete 2,852 interviews between February 1 and June 24, 2012. The worksite survey included 1,812 completed interviews conducted by a respondent-selected combination of phone (using CATI) or web between March 12 and June 15, 2012.

Explore findings and datasets from the 2012 surveys below.
 

  • What are the primary reasons for employees using FMLA-qualifying leave?
  • What are the patterns of FMLA coverage, awareness, and use among employees, and how are they the same or different across the four survey waves?
  • What are employers’ FMLA policies and practices?
  • What are employers’ administrative and management practices related to FMLA, and how are they similar or different across the four survey waves?

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.