Glossary of Terms

1.      12-Month Benefit Period - A "rolling" 12-month period measured backward from the date on which the employee first uses Family and Medical Leave.

2.      Child - A son or daughter who is under 18 years old or is 18 years or older and is incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability (whether permanent or temporary) and is:

a.       a biological, adopted or foster child or step-child (a child of an employee's spouse from a previous marriage);

b.      a legal ward (a minor child placed by the court under the care of an employee as guardian);

c.       a child of an employee to whom an employee is in the place of a parent (in loco parentis).

3.      Essential Functions - are one or more of the core responsibilities of a position. For example: a receptionist who cannot speak, cannot perform one of the core responsibilities of his position, and is therefore defined as "disabled," even if the condition is temporary. However, if the same receptionist could not move heavy furniture, he would not be disabled, because moving heavy furniture is not an essential function of this position.

4.      Intermittent Work Schedule - A work schedule in which an employee may not be expected at the ordinary time every work day; a flexible schedule, determined in advance, used to accommodate some form of regularly scheduled medical treatment or patient care. Intermittent schedules typically total 40 hours per week. Such schedules may contain a combination of hours worked and paid leave. For schedules with fewer than 40 hours, please see Reduced Work Schedule below.

5.      Parent - A biological or adoptive parent or an individual who was in the place of a parent when the employee was a child. A legal relationship is not required for this purpose. Parents-in-law are not covered by these provisions.

6.      Qualified Practitioner - A health care provider who is recognized by the State of North Carolina and accepted by your health plan to treat patients' conditions within the area of speciality for which his/her education, experience, licensure and Board Certification (if required) qualify him or her.

7.      Reduced Work Schedule - A work schedule totaling fewer hours than an employee is normally scheduled to work each week. Such schedules are usually employed when the individual has exhausted all paid leave, and still requires regularly scheduled medical treatment.

8.      Serious Health Condition - 1) an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves either inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility, or that involves continuing treatment by a health care provider; 2) any period of incapacity requiring absence from work of more than three calendar days that involves continuing treatment by a health care provider, or 3) continuing treatment by a health care provider for conditions so serious that, if not treated, would likely result in an absence of more than three calendar days. This includes prenatal care. The period of actual physical disability associated with childbirth is considered a serious health condition and can be designated as Family and Medical Leave, whether taken as paid or unpaid leave.

9.      Spouse - A husband or wife.

10.  Work Week - The number of hours an employee is regularly scheduled to work each week.

11.  Exigency – A pressing necessity; urgency.

12.  Military Caregiver – An immediate family member or next of kin of a covered service member who is recovering from a serious illness or injury sustained in the line of duty on active duty.

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