West Virginia Division of Personnel PARENTAL LEAVE/FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE INTERPRETIVE BULLETIN INTERPRETIVE BULLETIN West Virginia Division of Personnel PARENTAL LEAVE/FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE

In 1989, the Legislature found that there is a growing crisis in this country and State affecting the stability of our families and that the family unit is being torn apart due to the need for families to have 2 income producing parents. In order to address this situation and to provide for the love, nurturing and education of our children, the Legislature enacted “The Parental Leave Act, ” codified as West Virginia Code § 21-5D-1 et seq. to provide employees with unpaid time away from work (after exhausting annual and personal leave) without risk of employment loss. Later, in 1993, Congress enacted the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA),which similarly provides for family and medical leave to be taken by eligible employees for qualifying events. The FMLA is administered and enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment Standards Administration, Wage and Hour Division and the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations remain the official sources for regulatory information concerning this law. Please reference the U.S. Department of Labor’s website for additional information (www.dol.gov/dol/esa/fmla.htm) In addition to the West Virginia Parental Leave Act and FMLA, the Administrative Rule of the Division of Personnel also provides for leave, both paid and unpaid, if an employee meets eligibility requirements and requests the leave for a qualifying event. Due to the complexity of these laws and rule and thei