Both Spouses Working for the Same Employer

If both spouses are eligible employees of the organization and request FMLA leave for:

The birth of a child and to bond with the newborn child,
The placement of a healthy child by adoption or for foster care, or
To care for a parent with a serious health condition, they are entitled to a maximum combined total leave equal to twelve (12) weeks in any 12-month entitlement period. If either spouse uses a portion of the total 12-week entitlement for one of those reasons, the other spouse is still entitled to the difference between the amount his or her spouse has taken and the 12-week entitlement for FMLA leave for one or more of the FMLA purposes listed above during any 12-month entitlement period.

The combined 12-weeek limitation does not apply to FMLA for:

Leave for the employee’s own serious health condition (including leave for recovery from childbirth),
Leave to care for a child with a serious health condition, or
Leave to care for a spouse with a serious health condition. If eligible spouses have exhausted their combined 12-week entitlement and one or both employees need FMLA leave for a reason that is not subject to the combined limit, then each spouse is entitled to additional FMLA leave up to the individual 12-week entitlement. The limitations also do not apply to two eligible employees working for the same employer who are not legally married, even if they are living together or have a child or children together.

Both spouses who are eligible for FMLA leave are limited to a combined total of 26 workweeks of leave during the single 12-month period if one of the reasons is to care for military caregiver leave, or if military caregiver leave is one of the reasons for leave and leave is also for the birth of a child, the placement of a healthy child by adoption or for foster care, or to care for a parent with a serious health condition. The spouses remain limited to a combined maximum of 12 weeks of FMLA leave for reasons other than military caregiver leave as specified above.

The following example is derived verbatim from The Employer’s Guide to the Family and Medical Leave Act, published by the U.S Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division:

Mary and Juan are married, FMLA-eligible employees, who work for the same employer. After Mary gives birth to their daughter, she uses six workweeks of FMLA for her own serious health condition and two workweeks of FMLA leave for bonding with her newborn baby, Anna. In the same 12-month period, Juan also wishes to use leave to bond with his infant daughter. Birth and bonding with a child is a combined leave category for spouses who work for the same employer. Juan and Mary are limited to a combined total of 12 workweeks in a 12-month period for the birth of their daughter and for bonding with their child, and Mary has used two of the 12 workweeks of leave available to the couple for this leave reason. Juan may take up to 10 workweeks of FMLA leave for the birth of his daughter and to bond with his child. If Juan uses ten workweeks of FMLA leave available to bond with Anna, he may use up to two workweeks of leave for non-combined FMLA-qualifying leave reasons, such as caring for Mary if she has a serious health condition. Mary may also use up to 4 workweeks of leave for non-combined FMLA qualifying leave reasons.