09/06/2026
Don’t Qualify for FMLA? Now What?
You need time off for medical treatment, but your employer says you don’t qualify for FMLA. Maybe you haven’t worked there long enough. Maybe you haven’t worked enough hours. Or perhaps you’ve already used your available FMLA leave.
That does not necessarily mean you are out of options. FMLA is not the only law that may protect your ability to take medical leave.
First, what is FMLA?
The Family and Medical Leave Act provides eligible employees with up to 12 workweeks of job-protected leave in a 12-month period for most qualifying family and medical reasons. These include your own serious health condition, caring for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition, and bonding with a new child. The leave is generally unpaid, but qualifying group health coverage continues on the same terms.
To qualify, you generally must work for a covered employer, have worked there for at least 12 months, have at least 1,250 hours of service during the preceding 12 months, and work at a location where your employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles.
No FMLA? A reasonable accommodation may be another path.
The Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, generally covers employers with 15 or more employees. Unlike FMLA, it does not impose a 12-month employment requirement or a 1,250-hour threshold for requesting an accommodation.
If your own physical or mental health condition qualifies as a disability, a short leave of absence or intermittent time off for treatment may be a reasonable accommodation. The purpose is to help you remain employed and perform your essential job duties—not to provide unlimited time away from work.
An employer may need to consider disability-related leave even when you are too new to qualify under its leave policy or have exhausted other available leave. “Our handbook doesn’t allow it” is not, by itself, the complete legal analysis.
How do you ask?
My practical advice: put your request in writing. You do not need special legal language, but explain that you need time off because of a medical condition. For example:
“I am requesting leave from [date] through [date] as a reasonable accommodation for a medical condition. My health care provider anticipates that I can return on [date] and resume my essential job duties, with any necessary accommodations. Please let me know what supporting documentation you need to evaluate my request.”
The employer should engage in an individualized discussion about your needs and possible accommodations. When appropriate, provide documentation explaining the need for leave, its expected duration, and your anticipated ability to return. Keep copies of your communications and participate in that discussion.
Know the limits.
ADA leave is not automatically approved or automatically paid. The accommodation must be reasonable and must not impose an undue hardship on the employer. It addresses your own disability; the ADA does not require an accommodation solely so you can care for a family member with a disability.
For Illinois employees, duration matters especially. Controlling federal case law generally rejects multi-month leave during which an employee cannot work, while recognizing that short or intermittent leave may qualify. Having an estimated return date does not, by itself, make a lengthy absence a reasonable accommodation.
Before you resign—or accept “you don’t qualify for FMLA” as the final answer—ask what other protections may apply.
Tsamis Law Firm | Know your rights. Protect your livelihood.
General information, not legal advice. Your rights depend on your circumstances and the laws that apply.
