If you work in New Hampshire, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave each year for serious health and family reasons. FMLA in New Hampshire runs on the same federal rules that apply everywhere else, but the state adds a voluntary paid leave program that can replace part of your wages while you’re out. The two work together, and understanding both is how you avoid leaving money or job protection on the table.
Who Qualifies
Two things determine whether you’re covered: your own work history and the size of your employer.
You need at least 12 months of employment with your current employer and at least 1,250 hours of actual work in the 12 months right before your leave starts.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2611 – Definitions The 12 months don’t have to be back-to-back, but a break of more than seven years generally wipes out the earlier stretch.2eCFR. 29 CFR 825.110 Only hours you actually worked count toward 1,250. Paid vacation, sick days, and other paid leave don’t add to the total.3U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Frequently Asked Questions
On the employer side, the company must have at least 50 employees within a 75-mile radius of your worksite.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2611 – Definitions A small New Hampshire office is still covered if the parent company has 50 or more workers at locations within that radius. Remote workers are usually counted based on the office they report to. Public agencies and public and private elementary and secondary schools are covered regardless of headcount.
Reasons You Can Take Leave
FMLA applies to a defined list of qualifying events, not to any absence you’d like to take:4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2612 – Leave Requirement
- The birth of your child and bonding during the first year, or the placement of a child through adoption or foster care.
- Your own serious health condition when it prevents you from doing your job.
- Care for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition.
- A qualifying exigency arising from a spouse, child, or parent’s covered active duty or call to active duty.
- Care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness, which gives you up to 26 workweeks in a single 12-month period instead of 12.
What Counts as a Serious Health Condition
This is where claims often fall apart. A routine cold or dental cleaning doesn’t qualify. Under federal regulations, a serious health condition generally means you can’t work, attend school, or handle daily activities for more than three consecutive full calendar days, combined with either two or more treatments within 30 days or one treatment leading to ongoing care.5eCFR. 29 CFR 825.115 The first in-person visit must happen within seven days of the first day you’re unable to function normally. Chronic conditions requiring periodic treatment, such as epilepsy or severe asthma, also qualify without the three-day incapacity requirement.
Family Beyond Blood or Legal Ties
The definitions of “parent” and “child” reach further than many people expect. You can take leave to care for someone who raised you even without a biological or legal relationship, and you can take leave for a child you’re raising in a parental role. The Department of Labor looks at whether the person handled day-to-day caregiving and provided financial support.6U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet – Using FMLA Leave to Care for Someone Who Was in the Role of a Parent to You When You Were a Child A simple written statement of the relationship is usually enough documentation.
Taking Leave in Blocks or on a Reduced Schedule
You don’t have to take all 12 weeks in one stretch. When medically necessary, FMLA lets you take leave in separate blocks or work a reduced schedule. This is common for chronic conditions with regular treatments, like chemotherapy or physical therapy.3U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Frequently Asked Questions
You do have to make a reasonable effort to schedule foreseeable treatments in a way that doesn’t disrupt operations more than necessary. Your employer can also temporarily transfer you to a different position with equivalent pay and benefits if that role better accommodates a recurring leave schedule; the duties can change, but the pay and benefits can’t.3U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Frequently Asked Questions For bonding leave after a birth or placement, intermittent leave is available only if your employer agrees.
How to Request Leave
When the leave is foreseeable, you must give at least 30 days’ notice. Think scheduled surgery, a due date, or a planned treatment cycle.7eCFR. 29 CFR 825.302 – Employee Notice Requirements for Foreseeable FMLA Leave When something unexpected happens, notify your employer as soon as you reasonably can.
Expect a request for medical certification. The Department of Labor publishes standardized forms: Form WH-380-E for your own serious health condition, and Form WH-380-F for a family member’s.8U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Forms Your healthcare provider fills in the medical details. The form doesn’t require a specific diagnosis, but it does need to show the condition meets the serious health condition standard and describe treatment frequency and expected duration.
Your employer has to respond in writing. Within five business days of learning you need leave, they must send a Notice of Eligibility and Rights and Responsibilities (Form WH-381) telling you whether you’re eligible.9U.S. Department of Labor. Notice of Eligibility and Rights and Responsibilities Once they have enough information, they issue a Designation Notice (Form WH-382) confirming the leave qualifies, saying how much will count against your annual entitlement, and stating whether you’ll need a fitness-for-duty certification to return.10U.S. Department of Labor. Designation Notice Under the Family and Medical Leave Act Your employer can also require you to use accrued paid vacation or sick time at the same time as FMLA leave.
Getting Paid: New Hampshire’s PFML Program
Federal FMLA protects your job. It doesn’t pay you. New Hampshire’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program addresses that gap through a voluntary insurance plan that provides 60% of your average weekly wage for up to six weeks per year.11New Hampshire Paid Family Medical Leave. New Hampshire Paid Family and Medical Leave The wage used to calculate the benefit is capped at the Social Security taxable wage maximum, which is $184,500 for 2026.12Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base The program is administered through MetLife.
Coverage depends on your employer. Employers can buy a group plan from MetLife at any time and decide whether to pay the full premium, split it, or pass the cost to workers. Employers who pay premiums for their workers get a Business Enterprise Tax credit equal to 50% of what they spend for six weeks of coverage.13NH Paid Family Medical Leave. Purchase a Plan Employers can also pick between a 6-week or 12-week plan.
If your employer doesn’t offer coverage, you can buy an individual plan during the annual 60-day open enrollment period. State law caps the individual premium at no more than $5 per week.13NH Paid Family Medical Leave. Purchase a Plan
Enrolling in NH PFML doesn’t change your federal FMLA rights, and if you qualify for both, the paid weeks and the unpaid FMLA entitlement typically run at the same time. Six weeks of paid NH PFML benefits count against your 12 weeks of FMLA-protected leave. You don’t get 12 unpaid weeks plus six paid weeks stacked on top. If MetLife denies your NH PFML claim, you have 10 calendar days to appeal.14New Hampshire Paid Family and Medical Leave. Filing a Claim for NH Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Benefits That window is short, so don’t sit on a denial letter.
Returning to Work
When your leave ends, your employer must return you to your old job or an equivalent position with the same pay, benefits, and working conditions.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2614 – Employment and Benefits Protection “Equivalent” means genuinely comparable in shift, work location, and level of responsibility. An employer can’t move you into a lesser role and call it equivalent.
Your employer must also keep your group health insurance in place for the whole leave at the same level and on the same terms as if you’d never left.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2614 – Employment and Benefits Protection You still owe your share of the premium. If you don’t return after your leave for a reason other than a continuing serious health condition or circumstances beyond your control, your employer can recover the premiums it paid on your behalf while you were out.
The Key Employee Exception
One carve-out to the job restoration guarantee catches people off guard. If you’re a salaried employee in the highest-paid 10% of workers at your employer’s locations within 75 miles, you’re a “key employee.”15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2614 – Employment and Benefits Protection Your employer can deny you job restoration if reinstating you would cause substantial and grievous economic injury to its operations.
This can’t be sprung on you after the fact. Your employer must tell you in writing when you request leave or when leave begins that you qualify as a key employee and explain what that means for your reinstatement.16eCFR. 29 CFR 825.219 – Rights of a Key Employee If your employer misses that notice, it loses the right to deny restoration even if the economic injury would have been real. The exception only touches getting your specific job back, not your right to take the leave in the first place.
If Your Employer Retaliates or Interferes
Federal law makes it illegal for your employer to interfere with your FMLA rights or punish you for using them. The prohibition covers more than firing. An employer can’t demote you, cut your hours, issue discipline tied to your leave use, or create a hostile environment because you took protected time off. The protection extends beyond your own leave: if you file a complaint, take part in an investigation, or testify in a proceeding about FMLA rights, retaliation is barred for that too.17Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2615 – Prohibited Acts Interference is the quieter violation, including discouraging you from taking leave, failing to give required notices, or counting FMLA absences against you in attendance policies.
If your employer violates your FMLA rights, you can recover lost wages, salary, and benefits, plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, so the total payout can effectively double. If you didn’t lose wages but had out-of-pocket costs, such as paying for care you would have provided, you can recover those actual losses up to 12 weeks of your salary. A court can order reinstatement or promotion, and your employer has to pay reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2617 – Enforcement
You generally have two years from the date of the last violation to file a private lawsuit, or three years if the violation was willful.19U.S. Department of Labor. Family and Medical Leave Act Advisor You can also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division instead of going to court. Either way, don’t wait. Evidence gets harder to gather, memories fade, and missing the deadline means losing the claim.