The FMLA allows 12 weeks of unpaid leave per 12 month period, not per incident. It is possible to have multiple reasons for FMLA in one year yet the employee still has a total of 12 weeks unpaid leave. There may not be a medical need for an employee to use the full 12 weeks; that is the upper limit.

The unused FMLA is theoretically banked for the remainder of the 12 month period in the event of a recurrence or another serious health condition. Then it expires with the end of the 12 month period.

The employee with the back pain issue used three weeks initially and then went back on FMLA two weeks later. After the first absence, the employee would have 9 weeks left for the 12 month period.

The employee could also apply for intermittent FMLA following his/her return from the orginal FMLA back injury and use the remaining 9 weeks "intermittently" as needed.

I am in the process of researching this, but we just had a case where an individual was granted an additional 12 weeks. I do not work in HR and it was not in my department but when I get the details I will post them. I was under the same impression as well and was surprised to hear this.

My understanding related to this question is similar to the rest of you - the employee would be entitled to the remaining 9 weeks if necessary.

Yes. 12 weeks per calendar year. Most organizations will also manadate that your FMLA leave runs concurrently with other leaves. If someone was granted an additional 12 weeks leave, it may not be covered under FMLA thus leaving the staff member with no job protection. Many organizations will allow you to take a personal leave of absence if desired once FMLA has been exhausted.

Here is the clarification I promised. It depends on how your particular organization views the 12 months. What I mean by this is does your organization view the 12 months as January through December or 12 months from the time of the claim. Where the confusion was for me on this case was the individual happen to have a claim that crossed over from 2006 to 2007. The individual then had another claim within 2007. Since the first claim originated in 2006 the organization granted the individual the second claim. What was also clarified for me was this type of leniency is not normal. Like I said earlied I am not an HR expert, I was thinking the same way as the rest of you!

FMLA allows the employer to determine the 12 month period used: "an eligible employee may take up to 12 workweeks of leave during any 12-month period" (EEOC). For this reason, many companies begin counting the 12 months from the date of the illness.

It was my understanding that FMLA could be used as paid or unpaid leave from work. We generally request that the employee use all their banked leave first, then use "leave without pay" next. We also have a provision within our HR deparment that allows other employees to donate annual leave to employees upon their request to fill any gaps in paid leave. Sometimes this happens, and sometimes there is not enough donated leave to continue being paid. The upside of all this is having their position guaranteed for them upon their return to work.