Car crash. Cancer diagnosis. Mental health crisis. Autoimmune disease flareup.
A serious medical condition can turn your life upside down in an instant, making everyday tasks feel overwhelming. And if you’re employed, you may find that work emails keep coming and your manager keeps calling – when the only job you should focus on is healing.
In these moments, a medical leave of absence from work can serve as a vital lifeline.
We are organizational behavior professors who research how people balance their personal and work lives. In a study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology in March 2026, we found that employers can design and enact medical leave policies in ways that support healing rather than adding more stress during what is already one of the hardest periods of an employee’s life.
We conducted interviews with 30 employees who had taken medical leave from a wide range of professions, such as teaching, management consulting, nursing and landscaping. We also interviewed 18 human resources professionals who manage the medical leave process. By systematically analyzing what people said during the interviews and looking for patterns, we determined what many employers are doing to help their workers heal.
2 in 3 Americans can take paid medical leave
Employees take medical leave when sick leave is not enough – when recovery will require weeks or months off.
But many workers make their jobs a higher priority than their health. Some fear being seen as less committed or losing their job if they take leave. Others simply cannot afford to lose income. As a result, many people work while getting chemotherapy, postpone surgeries doctors have told them they need, or forego other necessary treatments altogether, even when laws and workplace benefits may exist to protect them.
About 2 in 3 employed Americans had access to paid leave for their own serious health condition as of 2022, and about 9% of the people who had paid leave didn’t use it when they needed it.
Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, eligible U.S. workers who have worked for a company with more than 50 employees for at least one year can take up to 12 weeks off to heal from their own serious health condition, or to care for a loved one such as a new baby or seriously ill family member.
But that policy protects your job, not your paycheck. It’s up to your employer, or your state, to determine whether medical leave is paid or unpaid.
Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts and several other states mandate paid medical leave for their employed residents. Some big employers also provide paid medical leave, including Microsoft and Adobe.
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What to do when you need it
If your symptoms or treatments are making it hard to do your job, don’t wait to get started. Chances are that you need to take time off from work to heal. And you should not delay treatment to accommodate what’s going on at work.
Experiencing stress from your job when you’re ill or injured can be like gasoline on a fire – it can exacerbate health problems and make it much harder to bounce back. We were surprised by how many people we interviewed waited until their circumstances were dire before stepping away from work.
It’s also important to check what benefits are available to you.
You may qualify for protections under the Family and Medical Leave Act, which can keep your job safe while you recover. But it doesn’t apply in all cases, such as when employers have fewer than 50 workers.
To protect your paycheck, you may have access to a short-term disability policy through your employer benefits package that you can use in conjunction with the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Alternatively, you may already be paying into your state’s paid leave program through payroll deductions. These programs work like insurance, helping replace part of your income while you are on leave.
Your human resources department can serve as your first point of contact and can get you in touch with a leave coordinator, if your employer has one.
However, you do not have to share detailed information about your medical condition with your supervisor, or even HR, if you prefer to keep that information private. Your doctor only needs to provide documentation confirming that you have a serious condition and detailing how much time you need off.
Some employers also offer extra support through employee assistance programs, which can provide free counseling sessions, or financial and legal assistance.
Some best practices
We found that access to paid leave is important, but not sufficient, for helping workers heal.
Many large employers that effectively support workers in need of medical leave have trained specialists in their human resources departments who help employees understand their options. That makes it easier for workers to take enough time off to recover.
Employers that handle medical leave well also train managers on the basics.
They make sure managers know how to clearly communicate the available benefits to their subordinates, understand who is eligible for them, and know who from human resources can support workers throughout the process.
But a manager’s role ends there. Managers do not have discretion over when or whether an employee may take leave. Good managers know that, and understand that their role is to support their employees during what is likely one of the most difficult moments of their life.
Employers can proactively prepare for workers to take extended absences by cross-training employees ahead of time. Doing this signals that taking leave is acceptable, expected and supported. If the need for leave arises, workers are less likely to feel guilty about stepping away to focus on their health because they know someone else can temporarily cover their work.
We believe that the best employers ensure medical leave benefits are available from day one on the job.
Under federal law, workers must be employed for at least 12 months before they qualify for the Family and Medical Leave Act’s protections. But illness and injury do not happen on convenient schedules.
A car accident after 11 months on the job is just as devastating as one after 11 years. Someone who starts having unexpected seizures eight months into the job still needs the time away from work to seek treatment and a diagnosis. Employers that really want to support their employees and their well-being recognize this and do not make employees wait.
Even if you’re not a manager, you can play a role. If any of your coworkers are getting ready to take medical leave or are already on leave, you can support them by learning more about their daily tasks and helping fill the gaps.
