Military Caregiver Leave
Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), staff members and instructional faculty members can request a Military Caregiver Leave to care for a military service member who is the staff/faculty member's spouse, domestic partner/civil union partner, child or parent with a serious illness or injury incurred in the line of active duty as a member of the Armed Forces, including the National Guard or Reserves, and is:
- Undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy
- Assigned as an outpatient to a military medical treatment facility
- Assigned to a unit providing command and control of Armed Forces' members who are receiving outpatient medical care, or
- On the temporary disability retired list.
Provisions
If the Military Caregiver Leave is approved, the University will grant up to 26 weeks of leave during a single, 12-month period to eligible staff members to care for the service member in their family as described above. Staff members who do not take all 26 weeks of leave during the single, 12-month period will forfeit the remaining part of the leave.
How to apply for Military Caregiver Leave
On January 1, 2025, Northwestern transitioned the administration of leave benefits to MetLife. Faculty and staff with a leave beginning before January 1, 2025, will continue to work with The Hartford for their Extended Sick Time (EST), Long-term Disability (LTD), and Birth/Adoption Parental Leave (BAPL) claims. Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Military Leave claims will be tracked by MetLife starting January 1, 2025, even if your leave began before this date.
Leave Starting Before January 1, 2025
The faculty and staff member must contact The Hartford to apply for FMLA and/or EST/BAPL benefits as soon as possible. Instructional faculty should also inform their Dean's office of their leave requests for academic planning purposes. You can reach The Hartford at 1-888-541-7283. View the step-by-step process of applying for a leave. Once your claim has been assigned to a claim administrator at The Hartford, you can request to speak to this person directly by scheduling an appointment online. The Hartford will manage your EST/BAPL even if the benefit is paid in calendar year 2025. You will not need to contact MetLife unless you need FMLA in 2025 that has not been approved by The Hartford by the end of this calendar year.
Leave Starting After January 1, 2025
The faculty and staff member must contact MetLife to initial their leave request, even if they have already contacted The Hartford prior to 1/1/2025. You can contact MetLife to initiate your claim by calling 1-800-396-8876 or online via MetLife’s MyBenefits website at mybenefits.metlife.com. See MetLife guide on how to file claim online.
Benefits while on Military Caregiver Leave
A staff member or instructional faculty member on a Military Caregiver Leave to care for a family member may use Incidental Sick Time, personal floating holidays, and vacation time as available, but must exhaust all applicable paid time off before taking an unpaid leave. A staff member or instructional faculty member on an FMLA Leave also may continue certain benefits while on leave. The dependent care flexible spending account (DCFSA) is temporarily frozen during a leave of absence. Commuter benefits are temporarily terminated when on a leave of absence. This benefit can only be used when the employee is actively at work. The deadline to make changes to commuter benefits is the 5th of the month prior. Please make any necessary changes prior to that deadline. For additional question on the commuter benefits, visit the commuter benefits page.
Returning from Military Caregiver Leave
The 26 weeks of Military Caregiver Leave can include leave taken for other FMLA-qualifying reasons. A single, 12-month period begins on the first day staff members take leave to care for seriously ill or injured service members and ends 12 months after that date, regardless of which method is used to determine other types of FMLA leave.
If the leave needs to extend longer, the staff member must request this extension prior to the expiration of the leave by contacting The Hartford.
The employment of staff members or instructional faculty members who do not return from a Military Caregiver Leave and who do not request and receive an extension may be subject to termination.