The FMLA entitles employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. A covered employer is a private sector employer with 50 or more employees; a public agency, including a local, state, or Federal government agency regardless of how many employees it employs; and public or private elementary or secondary schools regardless of how many employees it employs. 

To be eligible for the leave, the employee must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and has at least 1,250 hours of service for the employer during the 12-month period immediately preceding the leave. The employee has up to 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period for the birth of a child or placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care; to care for a spouse, son, daughter, or parent who has a serious health condition; for a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of the job; or for any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that a spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a military member on covered active duty or call to covered active duty status.