I started 1 year ago with my employer, had unpaid leave of absence for 2 weeks for preplanned vacation, switched to part time(20hrs a week - but still exempt) after 2 months to better manage family.

Now 1 year and 1 week after I joined, I need to take FMLA for birth of my child. But my hours worked will be as per official (not tracked as actual time) records 1180 - if I include overtime that I would have put in which was not tracked or paid, I would closely meet the 1250 hours requirement. While perusing the FMLA act it states that for exempt employees where employer does not track time accurately, that under FLSA they would only have to meet the 12 month requirement. Can I question/push for this with my employer as otherwise they are going by payroll records for calculating time and stating that I would not meet the requirement.

Thanks!

While perusing the FMLA act it states that for exempt employees where employer does not track time accurately, that under FLSA they would only have to meet the 12 month requirement. That's news to me. Can you provide a link for that?

It's here

29 CFR 825.500 - What records must an employer keep to comply with the FMLA?


(f) If FMLA-eligible employees are not subject to FLSA's
recordkeeping regulations for purposes of minimum wage or overtime
compliance (i.e., not covered by or exempt from FLSA), an employer need
not keep a record of actual hours worked (as otherwise required under
FLSA, 29 CFR 516.2(a)(7)), provided that:
(1) eligibility for FMLA leave is presumed for any employee who has
been employed for at least 12 months; and
(2) with respect to employees who take FMLA leave intermittently or
on a reduced leave schedule, the employer and employee agree on the
employee's normal schedule or average hours worked each week and reduce
their agreement to a written record maintained in accordance with
paragraph (b) of this section.


In other words, as I read this, the employer should still be tracking hours for PT exempt employees if they don't think they will make it to the 1250 hour mark.

However, it still sounds like you fall short of the 1250 hours in which case, you still aren't qualified for FMLA. Do you have it documented how much extra time you worked? Or are you just guessing?

It would be an estimate - since it was not tracked, but I do know that extra effort was put in to meet deadlines etc. Thanks for the responses.