Does an employee have to use all 12 weeks of leave at once?

No, The FLA allows an employee to take intermittent leave – which is defined as leave in separate
blocks of time – if the leave is for the same condition in a 12-month period. An employee can also take
leave by working on a reduced work schedule. Similar to the federal FMLA, the FLA places certain
conditions on intermittent and reduced-schedule leave, including:

1. An employee may take intermittent or reduced-schedule leave after the birth or placement
   of a child only if the employer agrees; however, if the employee or child has a serious
   health condition, agreement of the employer is not required for intermittent or reduced schedule
   leave.
2. There is no limit on the size of a leave-increment an employee may take for an
   intermittent absence. However, an employer may determine the minimum size of the
   leave-increment that can deducted from an employee’s leave balance based on the
   shortest period of time that the employer’s payroll system uses to account for absences as
   long as the payroll increment of time does not exceed one hour. For example, if an
   employee takes 4.5 hours of leave, an employer may count it as 5 hours of leave if the
   payroll system accounts for absences on an hourly basis. An employer may not require an
   employee to take more leave than necessary to address the circumstance that precipitated
   the need for the leave.
3. When an employee wishes to use intermittent or reduced-schedule leave for the
   employee’s or a family member’s planned medical treatment, the employer may require
   the employee to transfer temporarily to an available position for which the employee is
   qualified that has equivalent pay and that better accommodates recurring periods of leave.
4. An employee may take intermittent or reduced-schedule leave without an employer’s
   agreement when:
   i. The leave is medically necessary for medical treatment of a serious health
   condition under supervision of a health care provider, for recovery from treatment
   or recovery from a serious health condition, or to provide care or psychological
   comfort to an immediate family member with a serious health condition.
   ii. The employee or the employee’s family member is incapacitated or unable to
   perform the essential functions of the job because of a chronic serious health
   condition even if he or she does not receive treatment by a health care provider.