Hopefully, you will never experience health problems serious enough to compel you to use leave available under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). But because health and family crises may arise suddenly, you should always carry with you your boss’s contact information so you can inform him of your need for FMLA leave as soon as possible. Also, always carry with you any passwords, security tokens and Web addresses you need to remotely access your work email and the desktop of your work computer. If you must take FMLA leave for a crisis or for the birth of a child,…

If you must take leave from work because you are sick or need to care for a sick family member, you have a range of leave options that probably include: • Accrued or advanced annual leave. You may be advanced as much annual leave as you would be expected to accrue throughout the rest of that leave year. • Accrued or advanced sick leave. You may use up to 13 days of sick leave per leave year for bereavement or for caring for a sick family member who is not necessarily seriously ill; and up to 12 weeks of sick…