Welcoming a foster child is a major life event, and the Family and Medical Leave Act helps eligible workers take time off for it without losing their jobs. If you are fostering or about to, knowing your FMLA rights matters. Here is how FMLA leave for foster child care works. Rules are stable but verify current details, and note this covers eligible employees.
What FMLA Provides
The Family and Medical Leave Act gives eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for certain family and medical reasons. Job-protected means your employer must continue your health benefits during the leave and return you to the same or an equivalent job afterward. The leave is unpaid, but the job protection is valuable, and you can often use accrued paid time off alongside it.
Foster Placement Is Covered
Importantly, FMLA specifically covers the placement of a child with you for foster care, along with adoption. You can take FMLA leave for the placement itself and to bond with the newly placed child, just as parents can for a new baby. This recognizes that welcoming a foster child involves adjustment, bonding, and often appointments and arrangements that take time. It is one of the qualifying reasons the law was designed to support.
The Timing Rule
There is a timing rule for bonding leave. Leave to bond with a newly placed foster child must be taken within the 12-month period beginning on the date of placement. After that year, the entitlement for bonding ends. So if you want to use FMLA to bond with your foster child, plan to take it within that first year. You do not have to take it all at once in every case, though some employers require bonding leave to be taken in a continuous block, so check your employer policy.
Caring for a Foster Child Who Is Ill
FMLA also covers caring for a foster child with a serious health condition, because the law definition of a child includes a foster child. So if your foster child has a serious illness or injury that requires your care, you can use FMLA leave for that too, separately from bonding leave. This gives foster parents the same protection other parents have when a child is seriously ill.
Who Is Eligible
Not everyone is covered. To be eligible for FMLA, you generally must have worked for your employer for at least 12 months, worked at least 1,250 hours in the previous year, and work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles. If you meet these conditions, you have the right to FMLA leave for foster placement. If your employer is smaller, check whether your state has its own family leave law, which may offer similar protection. See our guide to charities that help with medical bills for related help.
How to Request It
To use FMLA leave, notify your employer as far in advance as practical, at least 30 days when the placement is foreseeable, and follow your employer usual leave-request procedures. Your employer may ask for documentation of the placement. Ask whether you can use paid time off during the leave to receive income, since FMLA itself is unpaid. Planning ahead and communicating with your employer ensures a smooth leave when your foster child arrives.
Combining FMLA With Other Support
FMLA is often just one piece of support for new foster parents. Because the leave is unpaid, look into whether your state has a paid family leave program that could provide income during your time off, and whether your employer offers paid parental leave that covers foster placement. Remember too that your foster child is generally covered by Medicaid, and foster parents receive a stipend for the child care. Layering FMLA job protection with these income and coverage sources helps you welcome a foster child without undue financial strain.
FMLA Foster Care FAQs
Does FMLA cover foster care?
Yes. FMLA covers the placement of a foster child and bonding with them, plus caring for a foster child with a serious health condition.
How much leave can I take?
Up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period, if you are eligible.
Is the leave paid?
No, FMLA leave is unpaid, but you can often use accrued paid time off alongside it, and your job and health benefits are protected.
When must I take bonding leave?
Within the 12-month period beginning on the date of placement.
Am I eligible for FMLA?
Generally if you worked 12 months and 1,250 hours for an employer with at least 50 employees within 75 miles.
What if my employer is too small?
Check whether your state has its own family leave law, which may offer similar protection.
