May public sector employee take paid family and medical leave under the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act?

It depends. In general, you are entitled to expanded family and medical leave if you are an employee of a non-federal public agency. Therefore, you are probably entitled to paid sick leave if, for example, you work for the government of a State, the District of Columbia, a Territory or possession of the United States, a city, a municipality, a township, a county, a parish, or a similar entity.

But if you are a Federal employee, you likely are not entitled to expanded family and medical leave. The Act only amended Title I of the FMLA; most Federal employees are covered instead by Title II of the FMLA. As a result, only some Federal employees are covered, and the vast majority are not. In addition, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has the authority to exclude some categories of U.S. Government Executive Branch employees with respect to expanded and family medical leave. If you are a Federal employee, the Department encourages you to seek guidance from your respective employers as to your eligibility to take expanded family and medical leave.

Further, health care providers and emergency responders may be excluded by their employer from being able to take expanded family and medical leave under the Act.

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