Q&A: How to handle holidays and FMLA Leave

Question: Under the federal FMLA, do holidays count towards the time used against the FMLA leave entitlement?

Answer:  It depends on the type of FMLA leave the employee is taking. FMLA leave may be taken in periods of whole weeks, single days, hours, and in some cases, even less than an hour. When a holiday falls during a week in which an employee is taking the full week of FMLA leave, the entire week is counted as FMLA leave. However, when a holiday falls during a week when an employee is taking less than the full week of FMLA leave, the holiday is not counted as FMLA leave, unless the employee was scheduled and expected to work on the holiday and used FMLA leave for that day.