If health issues are pushing you toward quitting your US job, you may be resigning from rights you have not used. FMLA gives 12 weeks of protected, unpaid job-secured leave. The ADA gives you reasonable accommodations without resignation. Use them in order: accommodation first, protected leave second, resignation last.
FMLA Eligibility
- You need 12 months of employment with 1,250+ hours (a 50+ employee employer within 75 miles) — per dol.gov.
- Covered uses: your serious health condition, a family caregiver need, birth/adoption, and qualifying exigencies.
- Protection: group health coverage continues, and your job (or an equivalent one) must be restored. Retaliation for requesting FMLA is a federal violation.
ADA Accommodations
Under the ADA (eeoc.gov), you request accommodations from HR without disclosing your diagnosis: your doctor supplies functional limitations ("no heavy lifting 20 lbs", "flex scheduling for treatment"). Accommodations can include schedule flexibility, remote work, modified tasks, assistive tools, and leave as the last resort. Employers must engage in the interactive process — "we just have a policy" is not a legal answer.
Request Scripts
"I am requesting FMLA leave for a serious health condition. I will provide certification from my medical provider. Please send the formal request packet, coverage terms, and the return-to-work process."
"I am requesting a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. My provider will submit functional limitations. I am not sharing medical details; the process requires only the documented limitations."
For the written resignation path, the medical resignation generator preserves privacy in the letter. The same privacy logic applies here: disclose limitations, not diagnoses.
Sequence and State Laws
State family-leave laws (CA, NY, NJ, WA, MA, CT, CO, MI, and more) often pay partial wage replacement (PFML/PFL) — federal FMLA is unpaid. File the state claim on day one of leave; federal FMLA job protection and state pay run in parallel. PTO, short-term disability, and workers' comp stack in some cases.
Related rules on this site: state rule pages, the exit glossary, and the application tracker for the follow-up clock.
Put the rule into action
Two different duties, two different papers
FMLA and the ADA solve different problems, and the paperwork is different.
- FMLA protects 12 workweeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period for a serious health condition, a new child, or a family member, at employers with 50+ people within 75 miles. Group health coverage continues on the same terms during leave, and reinstatement to the same or an equivalent role is required.
- The ADA requires a reasonable accommodation for a qualified person with a disability, absent undue hardship, at employers with 15+ employees. The legal route is the interactive process: you request, the employer explores options, and the accommodation is documented. Remote work, schedule change, equipment and leave can all be accommodations.
The written request is the record in both cases. The ADA request date starts the interactive process and anchors any retaliation claim; FMLA dates and the return date are what prove reinstatement. The FMLA entry and the ADA accommodation entry cover the eligibility lines.
Send the request in writing, dated
Verbal requests are deniable. Two letters do the work:
- The leave request: dates, the qualifying reason, the expected return date, and the coverage plan. The FMLA leave request generator writes it in the standard format.
- The accommodation request: the limitation in functional terms, the specific adjustment you want, and alternatives you would accept. The ADA accommodation generator writes that version.
Keep the date on both. The employer's obligations begin at the written request, and the record of what was requested and when is the core of any later dispute. Do not diagnose in the letter: describe the limitation and the adjustment.
Returning to a changed job
A return that changes schedule, scope or pay is where the two laws get tested. FMLA requires reinstatement to the same or an equivalent role; a reduction in hours, a dropped duty, or a pay change after leave is the fact pattern to document from day one:
- Write the pre-leave job description and the post-return assignment side by side, dated.
- Send one letter naming the differences and asking for restoration, not asking for permission.
- Keep any accommodation approvals with the return record; an accommodation withdrawn without the interactive process is its own issue.
If the change came with a resignation push, read the constructive-discharge entry before you quit: the record has to be built before the resignation, because a resignation letter with no factual record is the hardest case to prove later.
Scripts and wording
"I am requesting [leave/accommodation] under FMLA / the ADA, effective [date]. My limitation in functional terms is [description]. The adjustment I am requesting is [specific change], and [alternative] would also work. Please confirm the approval, the dates, and the return arrangement in writing."
"My position before leave included [duties, hours, pay]. My assignment on return is [what changed]. I am asking for restoration to the same or equivalent position as required, and I would like the difference addressed in writing."
Facts, dates, one ask. No medical detail beyond what the employer needs, and no argument in the first letter.
FMLA versus ADA
| Item | FMLA | ADA |
|---|
| What it provides | Up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave | Reasonable accommodations to keep working |
|---|
| Eligibility | 12 months and 1,250 hours at a covered employer | A disability under the ADA definition |
|---|
| Job protection | Restoration to the same or equivalent job | No leave right, but protection from discrimination |
|---|
| Pay | Unpaid; some states add paid leave | Not a pay program |
|---|
For the current text behind these numbers, start with the California job exit rules page and the Colorado job exit rules page, along with the workplace remote reviews guide hub. Those sources state the rule in full; this page only points at them.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is remote work an ADA accommodation?
- It can be. Schedule change, equipment, leave and remote work are all potential accommodations, decided through the interactive process with undue hardship as the employer's defense. The written request is the record that starts the process. Use the accommodation request generator and keep the date.
- Can I be fired for requesting FMLA leave?
- Retaliation for requesting or taking protected leave is the wrong to avoid, and the written request date is your proof. Employment is still at-will, so documentation matters: keep the request, the approval, and any change in your assignment dated and in one file. See the FMLA entry for eligibility lines.
- Do I keep health insurance during FMLA leave?
- Yes. Group health coverage continues on the same terms during FMLA leave; you typically keep paying your share. Other benefits do not automatically continue, so ask which ones do. The FMLA entry and the request generator cover the paperwork.
- My job changed when I came back. What do I do first?
- Write the before-and-after comparison and send one letter asking for restoration to the same or an equivalent position. Do not resign first: if the change makes the job untenable, the record has to exist before the resignation. Read the constructive-discharge entry before you quit.
The 12-week leave entitlement, the restoration duty, and the accommodation process are federal rules; the state family-leave and paid-leave programs add their own windows, graded in this build from reported sources. Confirm the state program deadline with the state agency named on the state rule pages, send the leave and accommodation requests in writing with the FMLA leave request generator, and keep the return date, the schedule, and the pay terms on paper.