FMLA eligibility does not transfer to a new employer. The Family and Medical Leave Act ties your right to protected leave to your relationship with each individual employer, so changing jobs resets the clock and you have to re-earn eligibility at the new company before the law’s protections apply to you. There is one narrow exception, discussed below, for situations where your new employer is legally a continuation of your old one.
What You Have to Re-Earn at a New Employer
Every time you start with a new company, you face the same four-part eligibility test, and nothing carries over from your prior job. To qualify, all four must be true:
- Your employer is covered. Private companies count if they had 50 or more employees during at least 20 workweeks in the current or prior calendar year. Public agencies and public or private schools are covered regardless of size.1eCFR. 29 CFR 825.105 – Counting Employees for Determining Coverage
- You have worked for that employer for at least 12 months. The months do not have to be consecutive.2eCFR. 29 CFR 825.110 – Eligible Employee
- You have logged at least 1,250 hours of work in the 12 months immediately before your leave starts.2eCFR. 29 CFR 825.110 – Eligible Employee
- You work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles. This is sometimes called the “50/75 rule” and trips up employees at small branch offices of otherwise large companies.3U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Frequently Asked Questions
The 1,250-hour threshold works out to roughly 24 hours per week over a full year. A standard 40-hour schedule clears it well before the 12-month anniversary; part-timers should track their hours more carefully. In practice, most new hires face a 12-month waiting period before FMLA protections apply, and a medical need in that gap is one of the more common ways people learn that FMLA does not follow them.
Once you do qualify, you receive a full 12 weeks of FMLA leave. Any leave you used at a previous employer is irrelevant; the leave bank resets completely.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2612 – Leave Requirement
The One Exception: Successor in Interest
Eligibility genuinely does carry over when your new employer is a “successor in interest” to your old one. This typically happens through mergers, acquisitions, or asset transfers where the business keeps operating in largely the same way under new ownership. If the new company qualifies as a successor, your service time and hours from the predecessor count as if you had always worked for the same employer.5eCFR. 29 CFR 825.107 – Successor in Interest Coverage
The Department of Labor uses an eight-factor test, with no single factor decisive:
- Substantial continuity of the same business operations
- Use of the same plant or facility
- Continuity of the workforce
- Similarity of jobs and working conditions
- Similarity of supervisory personnel
- Similarity in machinery, equipment, and production methods
- Similarity of products or services
- The ability of the predecessor to provide relief
When most factors point toward continuity, the new employer inherits FMLA obligations whether or not it independently meets coverage thresholds.6eCFR. 29 CFR 825.107 – Successor in Interest Coverage If you were already on FMLA leave when a merger closed, the new employer must continue your leave, maintain your health benefits, and restore your job when you return. You cannot be required to restart the process.
A dose of realism: most people asking whether FMLA transfers are voluntarily changing jobs, not going through a corporate merger. This exception is narrow. If you applied for and accepted a position at a different company, it almost certainly does not apply to you.
Going Back to a Former Employer
If your “new” job is actually a return to a company you worked for before, your earlier tenure usually counts toward the 12-month requirement, but only if the gap was seven years or less. Breaks longer than seven years erase your prior service, with two exceptions: the break was due to military service under USERRA, or there is a written agreement (including a collective bargaining agreement) that the employer intended to rehire you after the break.2eCFR. 29 CFR 825.110 – Eligible Employee
If you worked at a company for eight months, left for five years, and returned, you may only need four more months to become FMLA-eligible. Leave for more than seven years without one of those exceptions, and you start from scratch. Employers can voluntarily count older service, but if they do, they must apply the policy uniformly to everyone with similar breaks.
Options If You Need Leave Before You Qualify
The gap between starting a new job and hitting FMLA eligibility can last a full year. If a medical or family situation arises in that window, you are not necessarily without options.
ADA Reasonable Accommodation
If you have a disability, the Americans with Disabilities Act may require your employer to grant unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation, even before you meet FMLA tenure requirements.7U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Employer-Provided Leave and the Americans with Disabilities Act This obligation is entirely separate from FMLA. Your employer must engage in an interactive process with you to determine whether the leave would cause undue hardship to the business.
There are limits. The leave request needs to be for a defined period. Indefinite leave, where you cannot estimate a return date, is generally considered an undue hardship and does not have to be provided.7U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Employer-Provided Leave and the Americans with Disabilities Act The ADA also only covers your own disability. It would not help if you need time off to care for a sick parent or bond with a new child.
State Paid Leave Programs
A growing number of states run their own paid family and medical leave programs, and many have eligibility rules more generous than federal FMLA. Some base eligibility on wages earned rather than months employed at a single company. California does not require any minimum employment duration; eligibility depends on having contributed to the state disability insurance program. Colorado ties eligibility to earning a minimum amount in wages over the prior year, not tenure with one employer. Massachusetts covers all W-2 workers in the state. Benefit amount, duration, and qualifying reasons vary by state, so check your state’s program directly.
Negotiate at the Offer Stage
Many employers offer leave benefits beyond what FMLA requires. Some provide paid parental leave or personal medical leave to employees who have not yet hit the 12-month mark. If you know you may need leave soon after starting, raise it during offer negotiations. An employer can voluntarily agree to provide leave or waive the FMLA waiting period in an offer letter. Few do so without being asked, but nothing in the law prevents an employer from being more generous than FMLA requires.
Expect to Recertify Your Medical Condition
Even if the reason for your leave is the same condition you took leave for at a prior job, a new employer can require a fresh medical certification from your healthcare provider. Documentation you submitted before does not satisfy the new company’s request. The standard timeline gives you 15 calendar days to return a complete certification after your employer requests it.8U.S. Department of Labor. Information for Health Care Providers to Complete a Certification under the FMLA If you expect to need leave shortly after becoming eligible, lining up a provider appointment in advance can save time once the clock starts.