Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, which employer qualifies as a covered employer?

• A. A private company with 25 employees
• B. A government agency only
• C. A private company with at least 50 employees in 20 or more work weeks, located where the employer has at least 50 employees
• D. A nonprofit organization with 60 employees in multiple locations

Answer: (C)

FMLA coverage hinges on the employer’s size and the length of employment in the relevant year, plus, for private employers, the employees must be within a 75-mile radius of the work site. A covered private employer is one with 50 or more employees who worked 20 or more weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, and it must be located where there are at least 50 employees nearby. The description that fits this best is a private company with at least 50 employees for 20 or more workweeks, located where the employer has at least 50 employees, because it directly meets both the size and time thresholds and ties those counts to the work location. The private company with 25 employees doesn’t meet the 50-employee threshold. A government agency is covered as well, but saying “government agency only” misstates that private employers can be covered too. A nonprofit with 60 employees could be covered in many cases, but without clearly meeting the 20 weeks criterion and the proximity requirement, it’s not as clearly aligned with the standard as the described private employer in scope.