Email template · Leave and attendance
FMLA leave notification email
In short
An FMLA notice email is the cover message that delivers the required Family and Medical Leave Act notices to an employee: the eligibility and rights notice, a request for medical certification, and the designation notice approving or denying FMLA leave. Below are templates for each step, plus timing rules and the mistakes that create legal exposure.
When to send it: The eligibility notice goes within five business days of the leave request or of learning the leave may qualify. The designation notice goes within five business days of having enough information to decide.
FMLA leave notification email: 3 versions
Eligibility notice and certification request
SubjectYour leave request: FMLA eligibility and next steps
Hi [First Name], We received your request for leave beginning [Leave Start Date] for [general reason, e.g. your own serious health condition / to care for a family member / the birth of your child]. I'm sorry you're dealing with this, and I want to make the process as easy as possible. Attached are: 1. Notice of Eligibility and Rights & Responsibilities. You [are / are not] eligible for FMLA leave. You have [Hours Remaining] hours of FMLA leave available in the current 12-month period. 2. Certification form [WH-380-E / WH-380-F / other form]. Please have your health care provider complete it and return it to me by [Certification Due Date], which is at least 15 calendar days from today. While your request is being reviewed, your absence will be treated as provisionally FMLA-protected. Your health benefits continue on the same terms. If you need more time to return the certification, or have questions, reply here or call me at [HR Phone]. Please send medical information to me only, not to your manager. Thank you, [HR Contact Name] [Title], [Company]
Designation notice (approved)
SubjectYour FMLA leave is approved
Hi [First Name], Thanks for sending your certification. Your leave is approved and designated as FMLA leave. The formal Designation Notice is attached. - Leave type: [Continuous / Intermittent / Reduced schedule] - Dates: [Leave Start Date] to [Expected Return Date] [or: up to Frequency and Duration of episodes, as certified] - FMLA hours to be counted: [Hours] - Pay: [unpaid / you must use accrued PTO at the same time / you may choose to use accrued PTO / short-term disability applies] - Return to work: [a fitness-for-duty certification is / is not required before you return] Your manager has been told only that you are on approved leave and the expected dates. For intermittent leave, please follow [call-in procedure] each time you use it. Please contact me if your dates change. Best, [HR Contact Name] [Title], [Company]
Not eligible
SubjectYour leave request: FMLA eligibility
Hi [First Name], We've reviewed your leave request for [Leave Start Date]. Unfortunately you are not yet eligible for FMLA leave because [reason, e.g. you will have worked for us for 9 months by the start date, and FMLA requires 12 months]. The attached notice explains the requirements. That doesn't mean you have no options. You may be able to use [PTO / state family or medical leave / a personal leave of absence / unpaid leave as an accommodation]. I'd like to talk through what fits. Can you call me at [HR Phone] or reply with a good time? Best, [HR Contact Name] [Title], [Company]
Subject line ideas
- Your leave request: FMLA eligibility and next steps
- FMLA notice and certification form
- Your FMLA leave is approved
- FMLA designation notice
- Reminder: certification due [Certification Due Date]
- Your leave request: FMLA eligibility
SMS and WhatsApp version
Hi [First Name], this is [HR Contact Name] in HR. We sent your FMLA eligibility notice and certification form to your email. The form is due [Certification Due Date]. Call [HR Phone] if you need help or more time.
Placeholders to replace: [First Name], [Leave Start Date], [Expected Return Date], [Hours Remaining], [Hours], [Certification Due Date], [HR Phone], [HR Contact Name], [Title], [Company]
What FMLA requires you to send
The FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993) applies to private employers with 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or prior calendar year, and to public agencies and schools. Eligible employees have worked for the employer at least 12 months, at least 1,250 hours in the past 12 months, at a worksite with 50 or more employees within 75 miles. They can take up to 12 workweeks of job-protected leave in a 12-month period (26 workweeks for military caregiver leave). Our FMLA glossary entry has the qualifying reasons.
The Department of Labor regulations set the notices:
- Eligibility notice, within five business days of the request or of learning the leave may qualify, absent extenuating circumstances.
- Rights and responsibilities notice, with the eligibility notice, covering certification, paid leave substitution, benefit premiums and job restoration. DOL form WH-381 combines both.
- Designation notice, within five business days of having enough information to decide. DOL form WH-382.
The email is the cover note; the notices themselves should be attached, using the DOL forms or your own versions with the same content. Keep them in your document templates so every site sends the same wording.
Certification
Employers may require medical certification. The employee must generally be given at least 15 calendar days to return it, and more if they make diligent, good-faith efforts but cannot. If the certification is incomplete, tell the employee in writing what is missing and give at least seven calendar days to fix it. Managers must not contact the employee's health care provider; only HR, a leave administrator or a health care provider on the employer's side may contact them, and only to clarify or authenticate.
Confidentiality
Medical certifications and records must be kept confidential and stored separately from the personnel file. That applies to email too: send notices from HR, ask employees to reply only to HR, and tell the manager only what they need, which is that leave is approved and the dates or expected frequency. Never copy a manager on the certification request.
State laws and paid leave
Many states run their own family and medical leave laws with broader eligibility, smaller employer thresholds or different qualifying reasons, and a growing number run paid leave programs. A leave can be FMLA, state-protected, both or neither, and each may need its own notice. Multi-state employers usually route all leave requests to a central team or a third-party administrator for this reason. Rules vary widely, so check each state where you have employees.
Where FMLA overlaps with ordinary time off, coordinate with the leave approval email process so a manager does not approve or deny a possibly protected absence as plain PTO.
Intermittent leave in high-volume operations
Contact centers and warehouses see a lot of intermittent FMLA leave, and it collides with attendance points systems. Absences covered by approved intermittent leave cannot count against the employee under an attendance policy. Make sure your scheduling and attendance tracking can code FMLA absences separately, and train supervisors to code a call-out correctly when the employee cites their certified condition. For parents, pair this with the parental leave email.
Mistakes to avoid
- Missing the five-business-day window because the request went to a supervisor who did not tell HR.
- Retroactive designation without a clear basis, which can be challenged if the employee was harmed.
- Asking for a diagnosis; certification covers facts about the condition, not the diagnosis itself.
- Counting FMLA absences toward attendance discipline.
- Forgetting to track hours used, which makes the next request impossible to answer accurately.
Frequently asked questions
Can FMLA notices be sent by email?
Yes. DOL rules allow electronic delivery of FMLA notices as long as the employee can actually access them. If an employee has no regular email access, provide paper copies as well.
How long do employers have to send an FMLA eligibility notice?
Five business days from the employee's request or from when the employer learns the leave may qualify for FMLA, absent extenuating circumstances.
What is an FMLA designation notice?
The written notice telling the employee whether the leave is designated as FMLA leave, how much leave will be counted, whether paid leave must be substituted and whether fitness-for-duty certification is needed to return.
How long does an employee have to return FMLA certification?
At least 15 calendar days, unless that is not practicable despite diligent, good-faith efforts. If it is incomplete, the employer must allow at least seven calendar days to fix it.
What should an FMLA approval email say?
That the leave is designated as FMLA, the type of leave, dates or frequency, hours counted, pay arrangements, return-to-work requirements and who to contact. Attach the formal designation notice.
Can a manager see an employee's FMLA paperwork?
No. Medical certifications must be kept confidential and separate from the personnel file. Managers only need to know that leave is approved and the dates or expected frequency.