FMLA eligibility usually does not transfer automatically to an unrelated new employer. The new job ordinarily requires its own qualifying service and hours, unless a special rule applies. [1]
Check continuity and successor rules
A successor-in-interest relationship can require prior service to count. Joint employment and certain military-service rules can also affect the analysis. A business sale therefore deserves more attention than simply treating every worker as a brand-new hire. [2]
Prior employment with the same employer may count toward the twelve-month requirement under applicable rules, even when the service was not continuous. [1]
Ask for an eligibility calculation
For the ordinary Title I employee test, check at least twelve months of employment, at least 1,250 hours of service during the preceding twelve months, and a worksite where the employer has at least fifty employees within seventy-five miles. The employer must also be covered, and special rules apply to some workers, including airline flight crews. Keep service dates, hours, worksite information, and any business-transfer or military-service records needed for the calculation. [1]
A generous employer policy may provide leave before federal FMLA eligibility begins. Conversely, a prior employer’s FMLA designation does not bind an unrelated employer to provide the remaining balance. [1]
Practical application
A worker hired by a purchaser after a business sale should ask whether the purchaser is a successor in interest under the FMLA regulation. Relevant factors concern business continuity; the company’s preferred label is not necessarily decisive. By comparison, changing to an unrelated employer ordinarily does not carry over the former job’s leave balance. Keep the employment dates needed to distinguish those situations. [2]
Successor status is based on the whole situation
The successor regulation considers factors such as continuity of business operations, workforce, jobs, supervisory personnel, equipment, production methods, and products or services. No single factor controls. Where successor treatment applies, leave entitlements can continue as though employment were with one employer, and relevant predecessor service can count. Obtain written confirmation of the business transition and the eligibility calculation. If the new job is unrelated, review its leave policies and any applicable state protections while building federal eligibility; an immediate need for leave does not itself waive the federal service requirements. [1] [2]
Related questions
Related guidance: FMLA and short-term disability running together and Can You Work Another Job While on FMLA?.
Primary sources
Sources checked: October 31, 2026.