FMLA Form WH-382 designation notice.

What the designation notice does

The employer, not the employee, is responsible in all circumstances for designating leave as FMLA-qualifying and for giving notice of that designation (825.300(d)(1)). DOL describes Form WH-382 as the form that informs the employee whether the leave request is approved and the amount of leave designated and counted against the FMLA entitlement. DOL also says an employer may use it to tell the employee that a certification is incomplete or insufficient and that more information is needed.

Deadlines and content, from the regulation

• Timing. Within five business days of having enough information to determine whether the leave is for an FMLA-qualifying reason, absent extenuating circumstances. If the employer already has enough information when the employee gives notice of the need for leave, it may send the notice then (825.300(d)(1)-(2)).
• One per reason. Only one designation notice is required for each FMLA-qualifying reason per applicable 12-month period, whether the leave is a continuous block, intermittent or a reduced schedule.
• Not FMLA. If the employer decides the leave is not FMLA-qualifying (for example the reason is not covered, or the entitlement is used up), it must tell the employee. That notice may be a simple written statement (825.300(d)(4)).
• Paid leave. If the employer requires paid leave to be substituted, or counts paid leave under an existing plan as FMLA leave, it must say so when it designates the leave.
• Fitness for duty. If a fitness-for-duty certification will be required to return, the notice must say so, and if it must address essential job functions the employer must list them (825.300(d)(3)).
• Amount of leave. The notice must state the hours, days or weeks counted if known. If not (for example unforeseeable intermittent leave), the employer gives the amount on the employee's request, no more than once in a 30-day period and only if leave was taken in that period. An oral notice must be confirmed in writing by the following payday, or the subsequent payday if the payday is less than one week after the oral notice (825.300(d)(6)).
• Changes. If the information changes (for example the entitlement is exhausted), written notice of the change is due within five business days of the employee's first notice of need for leave after the change (825.300(d)(5)).

Worked example

A certification arrives complete on Monday, November 2, 2026. Five business days later is Monday, November 9, 2026, so the designation notice is due by then. If the employee's leave is a block of six weeks, the notice states six weeks. If it is intermittent and unpredictable, the employer states how the leave will be counted and gives the running total on request.

If the employer skips it

Under 825.300(e), failing to follow the notice rules may be interference with FMLA rights, and the employer may be liable for lost compensation and benefits, other actual monetary losses that result directly from the violation, and appropriate equitable relief. This page does not predict outcomes in a particular case.

Using the DOL form

The prototype forms are optional: an employer may use the WHD form or its own version with the same basic information. DOL also notes that an expired OMB date printed on its forms does not change the content of the required information.

Sources

• 29 CFR 825.300 Employer notice requirements: designation notice timing, content, amount of leave and consequences. Read November 2, 2026.
• DOL Wage and Hour Division: FMLA forms (Internet Archive copy; the live page blocks automated reads): what each optional-use form is for, that completed certifications go to the employer and not to DOL, and that an expired OMB date does not affect the content. Read November 2, 2026.

Regulation text is the eCFR version current to October 29, 2026. Form descriptions are from the DOL forms page as archived and read on the date above.