Designation Notice 
 
under the Family and Medical Leave Act 

U.S. Department of Labor 
Wage and Hour Division 

DO NOT SEND TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. 
PROVIDE TO EMPLOYEE. 

OMB Control Number: 1235-0003 
Expires: 6/30/2023

Leave covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) must be designated as FMLA-protected and the employer must inform 
the employee of the amount of leave that will be counted against the employee’s FMLA leave entitlement. In order to determine whether 
leave  is  covered  under  the  FMLA,  the  employer  may  request  that  the  leave  be  supported  by  a  certification.  If  the  certification  is 
incomplete or insufficient, the employer must state in writing what additional information is necessary to make the certification complete 
and sufficient. While use of this form is optional, a fully completed Form WH-382 provides employees with the information required 
by 29 C.F.R. §§ 825.300(d), 825.301, and 825.305(c), which must be provided within five business days of the employer having enough 
information to determine whether the leave is for an FMLA-qualifying reason. Information about the FMLA may be found on the WHD 
website at www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla. 

SECTION I - EMPLOYER 

The employer is responsible in all circumstances for designating leave as FMLA-qualifying and giving notice to the employee. Once an 
eligible employee communicates a need to take leave for an FMLA-qualifying reason, an employer may not delay designating such 
leave as FMLA leave, and neither the employee nor the employer may decline FMLA protection for that leave.   

Date: ____________________________ (mm/dd/yyyy)  

From: _______________________________________ (Employer) 

  To: _____________________________________ (Employee) 

On _____________________ (mm/dd/yyyy) we received your most recent information to support your need for leave due to: 
(Select as appropriate) 

 The birth of a child, or placement of a child with you for adoption or foster care, and to bond with the newborn or newly-

  placed child

 Your own serious health condition
 The serious health condition of your spouse, child, or parent
 A qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that your spouse, child, or parent is on covered active duty or has been notified

of an impending call or order to covered active duty with the Armed Forces

 A serious injury or illness of a covered servicemember where you are the servicemember’s spouse, child, parent, or next of

kin (Military Caregiver Leave)

We have reviewed information related to your need for leave under the FMLA along with any supporting documentation 
provided and decided that your FMLA leave request is: (Select as appropriate) 

 Approved. All leave taken for this reason will be designated as FMLA leave. Go to Section III for more information.

 Not Approved: (Select as appropriate)

 The FMLA does not apply to your leave request.
 As of the date the leave is to start, you do not have any FMLA leave available to use.
 Other _______________________________________________________________________

 Additional information is needed to determine if your leave request qualifies as FMLA leave. (Go to Section II for the specific
information needed. If your FMLA leave request is approved and no additional information is needed, go to Section III.)

SECTION II – ADDITIONAL INFORMATION NEEDED 

We need additional information to determine  whether  your leave request qualifies under the  FMLA. Once  we obtain  the additional 
information requested, we will inform you within 5 business days if your leave will or will not be designated as FMLA leave and count 
towards the amount of FMLA leave you have available. Failure to provide the additional information as requested may result in a 
denial of your FMLA leave request.   

If you have any questions, please contact: _____________________________________at___________________________________ 

  (Name of employer FMLA representative) 

 

(Contact information) 

Incomplete or Insufficient Certification 
The certification you have provided is incomplete and/or insufficient to determine whether the FMLA applies to your leave request. 
(Select as applicable) 

 The certification provided is incomplete and we are unable to determine whether the FMLA applies to your leave
request. “Incomplete” means one or more of the applicable entries on the certification have not been completed.

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Form WH-382, Revised June 2020 

Employee Name: _____________________________________________________________________________________ 

 The certification provided is insufficient to determine whether the FMLA applies to your leave request. “Insufficient” means the

information provided is vague, unclear, ambiguous or non-responsive.

Specify the information needed to make the certification complete and/or sufficient: ______________________________________ 
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

You must provide the requested information no later than (provide at least 7 calendar days) __________________ (mm/dd/yyyy), unless 
it is not practicable under the particular circumstances despite your diligent good faith efforts, or your leave may be denied. 

Second and Third Opinions   
 We request that you obtain a ( second /  third opinion) medical certification at our expense, and we will provide further
details at a later time. Note: The employee or the employee’s family member may be requested to authorize the health care
provider to release information pertaining only to the serious health condition at issue.

SECTION III – FMLA LEAVE APPROVED 

As explained in Section I, your FMLA leave request is approved. All leave taken for this reason will be designated as FMLA leave and 
will count against the amount of FMLA leave you have available to use in the applicable 12-month period. The FMLA requires that you 
notify us as soon as practicable if the dates of scheduled leave change, are extended, or were initially unknown. Based on the information 
you have provided to date, we are providing the following information about the amount of time that will be counted against the total 
amount of FMLA leave you have available to use in the applicable 12-month period: (Select as appropriate) 

 Provided there is no change from your anticipated FMLA leave schedule, the following number of hours, days, or weeks
will be counted against your leave entitlement: _______________________________________________________.

 Because the leave you will need will be unscheduled, it is not possible to provide the hours, days, or weeks that will be

counted against your FMLA entitlement at this time. You have the right to request this information once in a 30-day period (if
leave was taken in the 30-day period).

Please be advised: (check all that apply) 

 Some or all of your FMLA leave will not be paid. Any unpaid FMLA leave taken  will be designated as FMLA leave and

counted against the amount of FMLA leave you have available to use in the applicable 12-month period.

 Based on your request, some or all of your available paid leave (e.g., sick, vacation, PTO) will be used during your FMLA
leave. Any paid leave taken for this reason will also be designated as FMLA leave and counted against the amount of FMLA leave
you have available to use in the applicable 12-month period.

 We are requiring you to use some or all of your available paid leave (e.g., sick, vacation, PTO) during your FMLA leave.
Any paid leave taken for this reason will also be designated as FMLA leave and counted against the amount of FMLA leave you
have available to use in the applicable 12-month period.

 Other: __________________________________________________________________________________________________
(e.g., Short- or long-term disability, workers’ compensation, state medical leave law, etc.) Any time taken for this reason will
also be designated as FMLA leave and counted against the amount of FMLA leave you have available to use in the applicable
12-month period.

Return-to-work requirements. To be restored to work after taking FMLA leave, you ( will be /  will not be) required to provide a 
certification from your health care provider (fitness-for-duty certification) that you are able to resume work. This request for a fitness-
for-duty  certification  is  only  with  regard  to  the  particular  serious  health  condition  that  caused  your  need  for  FMLA  leave.  If  such 
certification is not timely received, your return to work may be delayed until the certification is provided.   

A list of the essential functions of your position ( is /  is not) attached. If attached, the fitness-for-duty certification must address 
your ability to perform the essential job functions.   
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT NOTICE AND PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT   
It is mandatory for employers to inform employees in writing whether leave requested under the FMLA has been determined to be covered 
under the FMLA. 29 U.S.C. § 2617; 29 C.F.R. § 825.300(d), (e). It is mandatory for employers to retain a copy of this disclosure in their records 
for three years. 29 U.S.C. § 2616; 29 C.F.R. § 825.500. Persons are not required to respond to this collection of information unless it displays 
a currently valid OMB control number. The Department of Labor estimates that it will take an average of 10 minutes for respondents to complete 
this collection of information, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data 
needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. If you have any comments regarding this burden estimate or any other 
aspect of this collection information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, send them to the Administrator, Wage and Hour Division, 
U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3502, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210. 

DO NOT SEND THE COMPLETED FORM TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. EMPLOYEE INFORMATION. 

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Form WH-382, Revised June 2020