KPMG unveils FMLA guide tailored to large professional services employees

KPMG has rolled out an evergreen guide aimed at explaining federal Family and Medical Leave Act protections most relevant to employees at large, matrixed professional-services firms, according to the guide's opening description. The resource is framed for staff who operate across client teams and global reporting lines and is presented as a practical primer on how federal FMLA rules intersect with the realities of professional-services work.

The guide’s publication sits alongside employer-handbook language that illustrates common firm-level practices. Evergreen’s employee handbook, cited as a template in the material KPMG used, states plainly: "Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA): Evergreen complies with all applicable provisions of state and/or federal laws on family and medical leave. The Appendix to this handbook outlines the policy, including the rights and obligations of employees, the notification requirements and Evergreen's obligations. All questions about our Family and Medical Leave policies should be directed to Human Resources."

The handbook excerpts KPMG referenced also show how firms calibrate paid-time and leave administration. Evergreen tells employees, "You may elect to substitute “non-productive” hours under this policy for unpaid time under the FMLA and in accordance with Evergreen’s policies. However, this time will run concurrent with FMLA time." That language highlights a common tradeoff: firm-paid or non-billable time can replace unpaid FMLA days but does not extend statutory FMLA entitlement.

Evergreen’s materials include other operational specifics employees will confront during a leave. The handbook instructs that "If you become ill on a scheduled holiday or during a scheduled vacation, you will be paid for the holiday or vacation under those policies, not for sick leave." It also confirms sick balances generally carry over: "Available sick leave hours that are not used will accumulate and be carried over in most cases. Sick hours may not be transferred to vacation time in instances of separation of employment." Evergreen further requires written notification for certain civic-service deployments: employees "must notify the organization in writing that you are a member of the Civil Air Patrol and, at the time of the operation, may be required to provide a written statement from your commander certifying your participation in an emergency service operation."

The guide acknowledges that U.S. federal FMLA coexists with provincial and provincial-equivalent rules for KPMG’s international workforce. Ontario’s Employment Standards Act is cited to show a different model: "Family medical leave is unpaid, job-protected leave of up to 28 weeks in a 52-week period." Ontario’s rules tie eligibility to a qualified health practitioner’s certificate stating a "serious medical condition with a significant risk of death occurring within a period of 26 weeks," define "week" as Sunday through Saturday, and specify that the 52-week measurement period "starts on the first day of the week in which the 26-week period specified in the medical certificate begins." The Ontario excerpt also notes that family caregiver leave is a separate ESA entitlement and that "an employee may be entitled to more than one leave for the same event."

Several document excerpts KPMG relied on are truncated in the materials reviewed for this story. Evergreen's jury-leave and worker's-compensation passages end mid-sentence, and the evergreen guide's opening line stops after "large, matrixed, global." KPMG's guide therefore combines federal FMLA framing with employer-level examples such as substitution of "non-productive" hours and an employee wellness offering; Evergreen's handbook describes that program as a "Supportive Wellness Service" offering contracted professional assessment for issues including death, divorce, drug and alcohol abuse, aging parents, stress, financial difficulties, and marital conflicts, and instructs employees to consult Human Resources or the Employee Resource section for access.

For KPMG staff who work in or with Ontario teams, the guide underscores a jurisdictional split: Ontario law grants up to 28 weeks of unpaid, job-protected family medical leave under specified medical-certification criteria, while U.S. federal FMLA protections remain the focus for U.S.-based employees. The guide and the employer examples KPMG used make clear that employees should consult internal HR channels for firm-specific application, because employer policies on sick accrual, holiday treatment, paid substitutions, and wellness-provider access vary from the statutory baselines cited in the documents.