The FMLA only provides employees the right to take unpaid leaves of absence in response to qualifying situations. However, if an employee has earned various types of paid leave while working for the employer, either the employee or the employer has the right to substitute paid leave for unpaid leave in FMLA leave situations.
More specifically, paid vacation or paid personal leave may be substituted for unpaid leave in any situation where FMLA leave is appropriate. Employees may also use (or be required by their employer to use) paid sick leave in situations where they are taking FMLA leave due to their own serious medical conditions, or to care for family members who are suffering from such conditions.
Finally, if an employee goes on Workers’ Compensation based on a disability resulting from a workplace injury or illness that meets the FMLA definition of a serious medical condition, the employer has the right to place that employee on FMLA leave while the employee is off work. The advantage to an employer of doing this is that it discharges its obligation to provide up to 12 weeks of annual FMLA for whatever amount of time the employee misses work while receiving Workers’ Compensation. If the employer did not do this, it could be confronted with a situation where an employee misses a number of weeks or months of work due to a work-related injury, and following his return to work, within the same year, could conceivably take up to 12 additional weeks off if an FMLA-triggering event occurs.