The Family and Medical Leave Act lets you keep your job and your health insurance while you are at the hospital with your child; here is how to use it, what your employer must do, and where to get paid while you are out.
What You Need to Know First
FMLA is job protection, not pay. It gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period to care for a son or daughter with a serious health condition, keeps your group health insurance going on the same terms, and guarantees you the same or an equivalent job when you come back. Leukemia treatment is a serious health condition many times over. The money has to come from somewhere else: state paid leave (New Jersey FLI, New York PFL), your own PTO, or short-term help from the hospital’s foundations.
You have to be eligible, and your employer has to be covered. You need 12 months with the employer (not necessarily consecutive), at least 1,250 hours worked in the past 12 months, and a worksite where the employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles. Public agencies and schools are covered regardless of size. If you are short on any of these, check New Jersey’s own law (NJFLA) too. As of July 2026 it reaches smaller employers (15 or more employees) with different eligibility rules, and because the counting rules matter, ask HR in writing which law applies to your job or use the NJ Division on Civil Rights resources linked below.
You do not have to say the word FMLA, but say it anyway. The exact sentence that works: “I need to take FMLA leave to care for my child, who has a serious health condition. I will need some time off continuously now and then intermittent days for treatment.” Put it in an email so there is a date on it. Your employer then has five business days to tell you in writing whether you are eligible and what paperwork they want.
The programs below focus on New Jersey and New York. Many states have similar programs; your hospital social worker can help you find the closest ones where you live.
Resources — 18 verified links Federal and national (11) · New Jersey (4) · New York (2) · Other states (1)
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