When an employee sustains an injury or becomes ill, they may be unable to perform certain job duties or need time off from work.  The staff of the Work Connect Program will guide and assist Mayo Clinic Rochester employees and their supervisor through the leave process and eventual return to work.  The Work Connect Program is an integrated disability management program comprised of staff from the Claims, Return to Work, and Integrated Disability Coordinator sections in Recovery and Claims Services (RCS), the Nurse Case Managers in Occupational Health Services (OHS), and Human Resources.  The Work Connect Program is applicable to employees who sustain work related injury or illness and non-work related injuries and illness, including maternity and paternity leave requests.

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Mayo Clinic offers allied health staff two types of leaves for serious health (medical) conditions: FMLA leave and personal leave, often referred to as personal medical leave.

FMLA Leave

FMLA provides eligible employees up to 12-weeks of unpaid job protected leave (including intermittent absences or reduced time) during a 12-month period. Use of FMLA does not determine an employee's pay during a leave for a qualifying serious health condition. Employees may be eligible for FMLA for one or more of the following reasons:

  • serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform any of the essential functions of his/her job;
  • care for the employee's spouse, son, daughter, or parent (does not include in-laws) with a serious health condition;
  • birth of an employee's son or daughter or placement of a son or daughter with the employee for adoption within one year of birth or placement;
  • any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee's spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a military member on covered active duty or call order to covered active duty status.

To be eligible for FMLA, Mayo Clinic Rochester employees must have:

  • worked for Mayo Clinic for at least 12 months AND
  • worked 1,250 hours for Mayo Clinic during the 12-month period immediately prior to the leave.

Employees should apply for FMLA regardless of whether the injury or illness is work related.

  • Applying for FMLA includes applying for Short Term Disability (STD) for non-work related injuries or illnesses.
  • STD benefits pay an employee during a leave for a serious health condition that is not due to a work-related injury/illness.

Employees may not be eligible for FMLA but they may be eligible for STD.

  • If an employee is not eligible for FMLA the leave will be denied and the employee instructed to apply for a personal leave; however, the STD application will be reviewed.

Employees may be requested to submit a Certification of Health Care Provider (MC2429-01), often referred to as a "Med Cert."

  • Discuss the need to obtain a Med Cert from your health care provider with your supervisor.
  • If a Med Cert is required, it should be sent from the employee to the assigned RCS Claims staff and not given to the supervisor.

Personal Leave

If an employee does not qualify for FMLA, Mayo Clinic employees have the option of applying for a personal leave.

  • A personal medical leave is for an employee's serious health condition.
  • Discuss having your supervisor submit a personal medical leave.