Family and Medical Leave: Miami-Dade (FL), Florida

This Family and Medical Leave policy applies to employees who work in Miami-Dade County, Florida and is designed to align your organization's leave practices with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) while also reflecting Miami-Dade's local requirement that FMLA-style leave to care for a family member includes leave to care for a qualifying grandparent with a serious health condition (as defined by the ordinance).

The History Behind Family and Medical Leave Policies in Miami-Dade (FL), Florida

This Family and Medical Leave policy follows the long-running arc of Family & Self Care Leaves in the U.S. Congress created the baseline in 1993 with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which gave eligible employees unpaid, job-protected leave for certain family and medical reasons. Employers built FMLA policies because the law depends on consistent notice, eligibility, certification, and reinstatement practices.

Florida did not add a statewide family leave law that expands FMLA's list of covered family members. Miami-Dade County added an additional requirement through its local Family Leave Ordinance, which requires covered employers to treat leave to care for a qualifying grandparent like FMLA leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition. The ordinance uses a specific definition: a grandparent for whom the employee has assumed primary financial responsibility, so employers needed written rules to avoid guessing or uneven decisions.

Which Law is the Family and Medical Leave Policy Meant to Comply With?

If you create and distribute a Family and Medical Leave Policy for your Miami-Dade (FL), Florida-based employees, it is in an effort to comply with Miami-Dade (FL), Florida's Code of Ordinances, Chapter 11A (Discrimination), Article V (Family Leave).

How to Write a Miami-Dade (FL), Florida-Specific Family and Medical Leave Policy

• Introduce the concept of family and medical leave as protected time off for serious health conditions, including expanded family caregiving in Miami-Dade.
• Define who's eligible to take this leave based on length of service and hours worked in Miami-Dade.
• Explain that Miami-Dade leave includes time off to care for a grandparent with a serious health condition.
• Define "grandparent" for this purpose based on primary financial responsibility.
• Align the rest of your rules (amount of leave, job protection, and documentation) with your existing family-member serious health condition leave rules.

When to Include this Policy in Your Employee Handbook

The law does not require you to publish a policy or issue a specific notice. That said, you still have to comply with the requirements that apply to you as an employer. 

Even when notice is not required, this is still the kind of policy most Miami-Dade County employers should put in their handbook or otherwise publish to employees.

If you only employ people in Miami-Dade County, instead of having this extra policy, you can:

• Add "grandparent" to your list of qualifying family members for FMLA leave to care for someone with a serious health condition.
• Include a definition of "grandparent" consistent with the ordinance.

If you employ people outside Miami-Dade and are syncing employee location metadata with Blissbook, you can follow the instructions above (except create a standalone bullet for the grandparent qualifying family member) and use access controls to show the additional benefit only to Miami-based employees.

Other Considerations

The law applies to Miami-Dade County, FL employers who have at least 50 employees working in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Exceptions

None.