The employer and the employee must pay the same health insurance premiums as each did before the leave began. Employers must also generally reinstate the employee to the same or an equivalent position once the leave is over. A covered employer must use one of the following methods to determine during which 12-month period an eligible employee's leave is to be determined. If an employer fails to select one of the following methods, the option that provides the most beneficial outcome for the employee will be used. The calendar year.
Many employers utilize the calendar method because it is the easiest to administer.
Under the calendar year method, an employee may take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave at any time during the calendar year. For example, an employee can take the last 12 weeks of 1995 as her leave for 1995 and the first 12 weeks of 1996 as her leave for 1996. Any fixed 12-month period. The fixed 12-month period is another popular method used to determine the period of time during which FMLA leave is calculated. Under this method, the fiscal year or a year tied to the employee's anniversary date is typically used.