FMLA2026-1 — How a school closure of less than a full week impacts the amount of leave a school employee uses under the FMLA.

U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division
Washington, D.C. 20210

FMLA2026-1
January 5, 2026
Dear Name*:
This letter responds to your request for an opinion concerning how a school closure of less than a
full week impacts the amount of leave a school employee uses under the Family and Medical Leave
Act (FMLA or Act).
When a school closes for part of a week during which an employee uses less than a full week of
FMLA leave, the period during which the school is closed is not counted as FMLA leave, unless
the employee was scheduled and expected to work during the period and used FMLA leave for
that time. When a school closes for part of a week during which an employee is using a full week
of FMLA leave, however, the entire week is counted as FMLA leave.
BACKGROUND
You ask how to calculate an employee’s FMLA leave use when a school closes for less than a full
week due to inclement weather. You note that while 29 C.F.R. § 825.200(h) addresses the
calculation of leave during a holiday or time when an employer temporarily closes or ceases
operations for a full week or longer, you seek clarification regarding the treatment of school
closures of one or more days, but less than a full week. You propose that whether the school
schedules “make up” days for the days the school was closed for inclement weather should
determine how the closure impacts the employee’s FMLA leave entitlement.
GENERAL LEGAL PRINCIPLES
A. FMLA Entitlement
The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave
for specified family and medical reasons with continuation of group health insurance coverage
under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave. See 29 U.S.C.
§§ 2612–2614. Eligible employees may generally take up to 12 “workweeks of leave” in a 12-
month period (leave year) for qualifying FMLA leave reasons. See 29 U.S.C. § 2612(a)(1); see
also id. § 2612(a)(3) (entitlement to a total of 26 workweeks of leave during a single 12-month
period to care for a servicemember).
B. Taking of FMLA Leave
Employees may use FMLA leave continuously, intermittently, or on a reduced leave schedule when
medically necessary or when the employee and employer agree. 29 U.S.C. § 2612(b)(1).
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FMLA leave may be taken intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule when medically necessary due
to the employee’s serious health condition, the employee’s family member’s serious health condition, or for
servicemember-family leave, or due to a qualifying exigency. See 29 U.S.C. § 2612(b)(1). Employers are

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Employees who use FMLA leave on an intermittent or reduced schedule basis may not have their
leave reduced “beyond the amount of leave actually taken.” Id. § 2612(b). When an employee
takes FMLA leave for less than one full workweek, the amount of FMLA leave used is determined
as a proportion of the employee’s actual workweek. See 29 C.F.R. § 825.205(b).
When a holiday falls during a week when an employee is taking FMLA leave in increments of less
than a full workweek, the holiday does not count against the employee’s FMLA leave entitlement
unless the employee was scheduled and expected to work on the holiday and uses FMLA leave for
that day. See 29 C.F.R. § 825.205(b)(1); see also 73 Fed. Reg. 7876, 7892 (explaining that “[i]f
an employee is not required to be at work because of a holiday on the day he or she requested
leave, then no leave would be charged to the employee’s FMLA entitlement.”). Instead, the
amount of FMLA leave the employee uses is a proportion of the employee’s actual workweek. Id.
In contrast, when a holiday falls during a week that an employee is taking a full workweek of
FMLA leave, the entire workweek counts as FMLA leave. See 29 C.F.R. § 825.200(h).
If the employer’s business activity has temporarily ceased and employees generally are not
expected to report for work for one or more weeks, the days the employer’s business activity has
ceased for one or more weeks do not count against the employee’s FMLA leave entitlement. See
id.; see also Scalia v. Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, 985 F.3d 742, 749 (9th
Cir. 2021) (“If a school is on break for one or more weeks, those weeks will not count as FMLA
leave”).
OPINION
In your letter, you request clarification whether an employee’s absence counts against his or her
FMLA entitlement when the employer—here a school—is temporarily closed for less than a full
week due to inclement weather. In determining how a school closure of less than a full week
impacts an employee’s FMLA leave use, the principles in 29 C.F.R. § 825.200(h) apply.
As noted above, the statutory FMLA entitlement is based on workweeks of leave. See 29 U.S.C.
§ 2612(a)(1). Additionally, for those employees who use FMLA leave on an intermittent or
reduced schedule basis, the Act prohibits the reduction of an employee’s statutory leave entitlement
“beyond the amount of leave actually taken.” Id. § 2612(b)(1). The regulations also make clear
that, when the employee takes leave for part of a workweek, the amount of leave taken is
determined based on the actual week in which the employee took leave, and only the amount of
leave actually taken may be counted. See 29 C.F.R. § 825.205(b)(1).
Therefore, when an employee is approved to take FMLA leave for less than a full workweek, and
the school closes for less than a week such that the employee would no longer be expected to report
to work during that time, such time during the school closure should not be deducted from the
employee’s FMLA leave entitlement. For example, if an eligible employee needs FMLA leave
each Tuesday afternoon for physical therapy, but the school is closed all day on Tuesday due to

not required to permit employees to take FMLA intermittent or reduced schedule leave for the birth and
care of a newborn child or for the placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care but
may choose to do so. Id.

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inclement weather and the employee is not required to report for duty, the employer school should
not deduct time for that day from the employee’s FMLA entitlement.
Conversely, for an employee using FMLA leave for a full workweek, when a school closes for less
than a week the closure has no impact on the employee’s FMLA leave usage, and the employer
may deduct a full week’s worth of leave from the employee’s FMLA leave entitlement. In other
words, if the employee was on FMLA leave for Monday through Friday of a week, but the school
is closed on Tuesday, the employee would use a full week of FMLA leave despite not being
required to report to work on Tuesday. See id. § 825.200(h).
Whether the closure was planned or unplanned has no impact on the amount of leave an employee
uses. Nor are the specific reasons for the temporary closure material to the analysis. Additionally,
whether your employer requires an employee to report to work on or for a “make up” day in the
future likewise does not impact this analysis, as these days appear to be both scheduled to satisfy
the school’s instructional hour mandates (e.g., those imposed by the state) and unrelated to the
employee’s protected use of FMLA leave. However, an employee’s ability to take FMLA leave
on a “make up” day must be evaluated independently of the day that “make up” day replaces.
Generally, if the employee is eligible, has a qualifying leave need, and has an unused leave
entitlement prior to the scheduled “make up” day, the employee may use FMLA leave on that
scheduled day.
We trust that this letter is responsive to your inquiry.
Sincerely,

Andrew B. Rogers
Administrator
*Note: The actual name(s) was removed to protect privacy in accordance with 5 U.S.C.
§ 552(b)(6). You represent that you do not seek this opinion for any party that the Wage and Hour
Division (WHD) is currently investigating or for any litigation that commenced prior to your
request. This opinion is based exclusively on the facts and circumstances described in your request
and is given based on your representation, express or implied, that you have provided a full and
fair description of all the facts and circumstances that would be pertinent to our consideration of
the question presented. The existence of any other factual or historical background not contained
in your letter might require a conclusion different from the one expressed herein.