Intermittent FMLA in Torrance & LA: Employee Rights
Reviewed By Managing Attorney - David Mallen
Missing work for a medical condition does not always mean taking several uninterrupted weeks off. Some employees need a few hours for recurring appointments. Others may need occasional days away from work when a serious health condition affects their ability to work or when they need to care for a family member.
Intermittent FMLA may protect qualifying employees who need leave in separate blocks of time instead of one continuous period. For workers in Torrance and Los Angeles, California law can provide additional protections through the California Family Rights Act, or CFRA.
Understanding how these laws work can help you recognize when an absence may be protected, what your employer can request from you, and what to do if your leave becomes a workplace dispute.
What You'll Learn From This Article
By the end of this guide, you will understand:
- How intermittent FMLA differs from continuous and reduced schedule leave
- Who may qualify for federal FMLA protection
- When intermittent leave may be used for medical or family needs
- What information an employer may request when you take FMLA leave
- How leave time is counted and whether it must be paid
- How California CFRA differs from federal FMLA
- What records may matter if your employer interferes with your leave or retaliates against you?
These basic rules provide the starting point. The next question is what intermittent leave actually looks like in practice.
What Is Intermittent FMLA Leave?
Intermittent leave allows an eligible employee to take FMLA leave in separate periods for the same qualifying reason.
The U.S. Department of Labor's FMLA Fact Sheet explains that eligible employees may take leave all at once or, when medically necessary, in separate blocks of time or by reducing the amount of time they work each day or week.
Intermittent Leave vs. Continuous Leave
FMLA leave can take several forms.
Continuous leave means taking one uninterrupted period away from work. For example, an employee recovering from surgery might remain off work continuously for several weeks if the leave qualifies.
Intermittent leave means taking separate periods of FMLA leave for the same qualifying reason. An employee might leave work for recurring treatment appointments or miss an occasional day because of a qualifying chronic medical condition.
Reduced schedule leave changes the employee's normal working hours for a period of time. For example, instead of working eight hours each day, an employee might temporarily work six hours when a reduced leave schedule is medically necessary.
Intermittent or reduced schedule leave can also apply to qualifying military family leave.
Federal rules differ for bonding with a newborn or a newly placed child. Under FMLA, an employee generally may use bonding leave intermittently or on a reduced schedule only when the employee and employer agree.
Understanding the type of leave you need is only one part of the process. You must also meet the law's eligibility rules.
Who Qualifies for Intermittent FMLA?
Not every worker or employer falls under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
An employee generally qualifies for FMLA leave if the employee:
- Works for a covered employer
- Has worked for that employer for at least 12 months
- Has completed at least 1,250 hours of service during the 12 months before the leave begins
- Works at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles
For private employers, federal FMLA generally applies when the employer had at least 50 employees during 20 or more workweeks in the current or previous calendar year. Public agencies and covered elementary and secondary schools follow separate employer coverage rules.
Eligibility therefore involves more than having a medical condition. Your employment history, employer size, work location, hours worked, and reason for the leave can all affect whether you qualify.
California employees have another important consideration. An employee who does not qualify under federal FMLA may still have rights under CFRA because California uses a different employer size requirement.
Once eligibility is established, the reason you need leave determines whether FMLA can protect the absence.
When Can You Take Intermittent FMLA Leave?
Intermittent FMLA is not general time off that an employee can use whenever needed. The leave must relate to a qualifying reason under the law.
Leave for Your Own Serious Health Condition
FMLA may protect leave when a serious health condition makes you unable to perform your job or requires medically necessary recurring absences.
A serious health condition generally involves inpatient care or continuing treatment by a healthcare provider. Not every illness, injury, appointment, or diagnosis automatically meets that definition.
Depending on the circumstances, intermittent FMLA leave may apply to recurring treatment, follow-up appointments, periods of incapacity caused by a qualifying chronic condition, or other medically necessary absences.
Employees should avoid assuming that a particular diagnosis automatically gives them FMLA protection. The nature of the condition, the need for leave, certification, and eligibility requirements all matter.
Caring for a Family Member
Federal FMLA may also provide leave to care for a child, spouse, or parent who has a serious health condition.
Leave needs can sometimes be intermittent. For example, an employee may need to take a parent to recurring medical treatment rather than remain away from work continuously.
California's definition of a qualifying family member under CFRA is broader than the standard federal FMLA definition, which can make a significant difference for workers in Los Angeles County.
Military Family Leave
The Family and Medical Leave Act also contains provisions for certain military-related family needs.
Qualifying exigency leave may apply to certain circumstances connected with a family member's covered military deployment.
Military caregiver leave can provide an eligible employee with up to 26 workweeks of leave during a single 12-month period to care for a qualifying covered servicemember or certain veterans with a serious injury or illness.
The reason for leave determines whether you're eligible for protection. How you communicate that need to your employer can also affect how they handle the request.
How to Request Intermittent FMLA From Your Employer
A leave request does not need to contain legal terminology to raise a potential FMLA issue. It does, however, need to provide enough information for the employer to understand that the absence may qualify.
Give Notice When the Need for Leave Is Foreseeable
If you know about the need for leave ahead of time, federal rules generally require 30 days' notice when that amount of notice is practical.
If 30 days is not possible, you should ordinarily inform your employer as soon as practical.
Employees generally must also follow their employer's usual procedures for requesting leave or reporting an absence unless unusual circumstances prevent them from doing so.
Do You Have to Say "FMLA"?
You do not necessarily have to tell your employer, "I am requesting FMLA leave," the first time you need qualifying leave.
You do need to provide enough information for the employer to understand that FMLA may apply. Simply calling in "sick," without providing additional information, may not give the employer enough notice.
If you have already received FMLA approval for a particular condition or reason, you may need to identify that qualifying reason when later taking intermittent leave.
The Department of Labor maintains additional FMLA information for employees and employers, including information about leave requests, notices, forms, and employee rights.
Medical Certification May Be Required
Your employer may ask for medical certification when FMLA leave involves your own serious health condition or that of a qualifying family member.
For intermittent leave, certification may address why the leave is medically necessary and, when appropriate, the expected frequency or duration of absences.
Federal rules generally give an employee at least 15 calendar days to provide requested medical certification, although circumstances outside the employee's control can affect that deadline.
Keeping copies of your leave request, certification, and communications with human resources can make it easier to establish what information was provided if questions arise later.
After leave is approved, another common concern is how each absence affects the amount of leave you still have available.
How Intermittent FMLA Time Is Counted
Taking a few hours of qualifying intermittent leave does not generally mean your employer can charge you with an entire day or week of FMLA leave.
Federal law bases FMLA entitlement on the employee's normal workweek. For most qualifying reasons, eligible employees can use up to 12 workweeks of FMLA leave during the employer's applicable 12-month period.
Only the amount of qualifying leave actually taken generally counts against that entitlement.
For example, an employee who normally works 40 hours each week and takes four hours of qualifying FMLA leave for treatment generally uses four hours of the available entitlement, not an entire week.
When intermittent leave is medically necessary for planned treatment, employees must generally make reasonable efforts to schedule treatment so it does not unnecessarily disrupt the employer's operations, subject to the healthcare provider's approval.
Employers can track leave, but they cannot treat protected time as ordinary unexcused absenteeism simply because the leave occurs in small increments.
How that time affects your paycheck is a separate question, because FMLA protection and paid leave are not the same thing.
Is Intermittent FMLA Paid?
Federal FMLA provides job protection, but the law does not automatically require employers to pay employees during FMLA leave.
You may still receive pay during some or all of your leave if you use applicable paid benefits.
Depending on the circumstances, those may include:
- Accrued sick leave
- Vacation time
- Paid time off
- Employer-provided family or medical leave
- California wage replacement benefits for qualifying employees
An employer may sometimes require an employee to use applicable accrued paid leave at the same time as FMLA leave.
California employees may also qualify for programs such as State Disability Insurance or Paid Family Leave. These programs can provide wage replacement in qualifying situations, but receiving money through one of these programs does not by itself establish that your job is protected.
Paid benefits and job-protected leave are separate legal issues.
That distinction matters most when an employer starts treating protected leave as an attendance or performance problem.
Your Rights When Using Intermittent FMLA
Taking protected leave should not be grounds for punishment.
Federal FMLA prohibits an employer from interfering with, restraining, or denying an employee's exercise of FMLA rights. The law also prohibits retaliation against an employee for requesting or using qualifying leave.
Potential concerns may arise if an employer:
- Gives you attendance points for protected FMLA absences
- Disciplines you because you used approved leave
- Threatens your job after a leave request
- Uses qualifying absences against you when evaluating attendance
- Reduces your shifts because you exercised FMLA rights
- Denies an employment opportunity because you took protected leave
- Terminates you under circumstances that suggest your protected leave was a factor
These facts do not automatically prove an FMLA violation. An employer can still take lawful action for legitimate reasons unrelated to protected leave.
Returning to Your Job
After FMLA leave, an eligible employee generally has the right to return to the same job or a virtually identical position with equivalent pay, benefits, and other employment terms, subject to limited exceptions.
If problems start after you request or take leave, records can become important. Save copies of your leave requests, HR emails, certification documents, schedules, attendance records, disciplinary notices, text messages, and termination paperwork.
The timing between a leave request and an employment action can matter, but you must consider the full facts. California workers should also determine whether state leave protections apply alongside federal law.
FMLA vs. CFRA for Torrance and Los Angeles Employees
Employees in Torrance and Los Angeles should understand both federal FMLA and the California Family Rights Act.
The California Civil Rights Department's Family Care and Medical Leave Guide explains that CFRA provides job-protected leave to qualifying California employees and that employees receive the more protective law when both state and federal protections apply.
| Issue | Federal FMLA | California CFRA |
|---|---|---|
| Employer size | Generally requires 50 employees, including the 50 employees within 75 miles of the worksite rule for employee eligibility | Generally applies to employers with 5 or more employees |
| Employee service | At least 12 months and 1,250 hours during the prior 12 months | At least 12 months and 1,250 hours during the prior 12 months |
| Standard leave amount | Up to 12 workweeks for most qualifying reasons | Up to 12 weeks for qualifying CFRA reasons |
| Covered family members for serious health condition leave | Generally child, spouse, or parent | Includes child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, and a qualifying designated person |
| Intermittent medical leave | Available when medically necessary | Qualifying leave does not need to be taken continuously |
The employer size difference matters. Someone employed by a smaller California company may not qualify for federal FMLA but could potentially qualify for CFRA.
CFRA can also protect leave to care for a broader group of family members. A qualifying designated person may include someone related by blood or whose association with the employee is equivalent to a family relationship, subject to California's rules.
Federal FMLA and CFRA are not interchangeable. The reason for your leave and the applicable law can affect your rights.
If you believe your employer applied the wrong rules, denied qualifying leave, or punished you for taking it, the details of your employment and leave history deserve a closer review.
Frequently Asked Questions About Intermittent FMLA
1. How many hours of intermittent FMLA can I take?
No universal number of FMLA hours applies to every employee.
For most qualifying reasons, eligible workers may take up to 12 workweeks during the applicable 12-month period. Your normal workweek affects how that entitlement translates into hours when you take intermittent FMLA leave.
An employee who normally works 40 hours has a different hourly equivalent than someone whose normal schedule is 30 hours per week.
2. Can my employer deny intermittent FMLA for medical appointments?
Intermittent leave for appointments may be protected when the treatment relates to a qualifying serious health condition, the employee meets FMLA requirements, and the leave is medically necessary.
Your employer may require proper notice and medical certification.
For foreseeable treatment, you generally should make reasonable efforts to schedule appointments in a way that does not unnecessarily disrupt operations, subject to your healthcare provider's approval.
3. Do I have to call in every time I use intermittent FMLA?
Usually, you still need to follow your employer's ordinary procedures for reporting absences unless unusual circumstances prevent you from doing so.
Approval for intermittent leave does not necessarily mean you can miss work without notifying your employer.
When you use leave connected with an already approved FMLA reason, make it clear that the absence relates to that qualifying reason.
4. Can my employer fire me for taking intermittent FMLA?
An employer cannot lawfully fire, discipline, or otherwise retaliate against an employee for requesting or using protected FMLA leave.
FMLA does not prevent an employer from making employment decisions for legitimate reasons unrelated to the leave. For that reason, termination after an FMLA request is not automatically illegal.
If the employer says the termination was unrelated, documents, timing, attendance records, and communications may help clarify what happened.
5. What if my employer is too small for federal FMLA?
California law may still apply.
Federal FMLA has employee and employer coverage requirements, including the 50-employee within 75-mile rule. CFRA generally applies to employers with five or more employees, although employees must still meet the applicable service and leave requirements.
Workers employed by smaller businesses in Torrance or Los Angeles should not assume they have no family leave or medical leave rights simply because federal FMLA does not apply.
These questions often become more complicated once discipline, denial of leave, or termination enters the picture.
Know Where You Stand Before a Leave Dispute Gets Worse
Intermittent FMLA can protect qualifying employees who need medically necessary leave in separate periods rather than one long absence. Federal law sets specific rules for eligibility, notice, certification, available leave, job restoration, and protection against retaliation.
California employees may have additional rights under CFRA, including broader employer coverage and a wider definition of family member.
If your employer denied a leave request, counted protected leave against your attendance, disciplined you after you took leave, changed your job, or terminated your employment, keep the records connected with what happened. A legal review can help determine which laws may apply and whether the employer's actions raise an employment law issue.
Employee Law Group represents California workers in disputes involving family and medical leave, retaliation, termination, and other employee rights. If you work in Torrance, Los Angeles, or elsewhere in California and have questions about your leave rights, contact Employee Law Group for a free consultation with a California Employment Attorney. You can discuss what happened, understand your options, and decide what next step makes sense for your situation.
Managing Attorney - David Mallen
David Mallen is the managing attorney at Employee Law Group in Torrance, California, and a respected labor and employment lawyer who has represented thousands of workers since beginning his practice in 1992. He has been recognized as a Southern California Super Lawyer every year from 2004 to the present.
