Since its enactment in 1993, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) has served as the cornerstone of the U.S. Department of Labor’s efforts to promote work-life balance and we have worked in support of the principle that no workers should have to choose between the job they need and the family they love. With the FMLA, our country made it a priority to give workers the ability to balance the demands of work and family. It made the healthy development of babies, healthy families, and healthy workplaces a priority. It was a remarkable accomplishment at the time and, since its enactment, the FMLA has been used more than 100 million times to help workers balance the demands of the workplace with the needs of their families and their own health.
The Wage and Hour Division is committed to strengthening compliance with the FMLA by providing assistance to employers and helping increase their knowledge of the law. This Employer’s Guide to the Family and Medical Leave Act is designed to provide essential information about the FMLA, including information about employers’ obligations under the law and the options available to employers in administering leave under the FMLA. The Guide is organized to correspond to the order of events from an employee’s leave request to restoration of the employee to the same or equivalent job at the end of the employee’s FMLA leave. It also includes a topical index for ease of use.
How to Get the FMLA Employer Guide
Download the FMLA Employer Guide (English) in PDF format
Print copies of the FMLA Employer Guide are now available to order from the Wage and Hour Division Online Publication Ordering System.