TL;DR: FMLA paperwork runs through a set of standardized DOL forms: WH-380-E (certification for your own serious health condition), WH-380-F (certification for a family member's condition), WH-381 (your employer's Notice of Eligibility and Rights & Responsibilities), and WH-382 (the Designation Notice that comes after your certification is reviewed). Military families may also see WH-384 or WH-385. All are free from the DOL website. Here's exactly what each form does, who fills it out, and the mistakes that get FMLA paperwork rejected.
FMLA paperwork is the most common reason claims get delayed or denied — and it's not because the law is complicated. It's because there are six different DOL forms, each with a different job, and most people have never seen more than one of them before they need leave. This guide walks through every form in the FMLA paperwork process: what WH-380-E and WH-380-F actually certify, why WH-381 and WH-382 are two separate notices (not one, despite what a lot of HR departments imply), where WH-384 and WH-385 fit for military families, and why California's DE 2501F form is a completely different animal that has nothing to do with federal FMLA. You'll also get the submission timeline, the most common errors that trigger a rejection, and what to do if your employer says your certification is incomplete.
The FMLA Forms at a Glance
Form | Purpose | Who Completes It |
|---|---|---|
WH-380-E | Certification of your own serious health condition | You + your healthcare provider |
WH-380-F | Certification of a family member's serious health condition | You + the family member's healthcare provider |
WH-381 | Notice of Eligibility and Rights and Responsibilities | Your employer |
WH-382 | Designation Notice (tells you if leave is FMLA-qualifying) | Your employer |
WH-384 | Certification of Qualifying Exigency for Military Family Leave | You + a military authority, as applicable |
WH-385 | Certification for Serious Injury or Illness of a Current Servicemember | The servicemember's healthcare provider |
All forms are free at dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla/forms. You never need to pay for FMLA paperwork — if a website is charging you for a blank WH-380-E or WH-381, it's a scam. If you're not sure which form applies to your situation, our FMLA forms finder walks you through it in under a minute.
WH-380-E: Your Own Serious Health Condition
The **WH-380-E** ("wh380e," if you're searching for it) is the certification form the Department of Labor built for one specific job: proving that you have a serious health condition that requires FMLA leave. Its full title is "Certification of Health Care Provider for Employee's Serious Health Condition." You use it when the leave is about your own body — surgery recovery, a chronic condition flare-up, pregnancy complications, a new cancer diagnosis, anything that meets FMLA's serious-health-condition definition.
Section I: Employee Portion (You Complete)
Your name, address, and contact information
Your employer's name
The date your condition began
A brief description of why you need leave (1-2 sentences is fine)
Section II: Healthcare Provider Portion (Your Doctor Completes)
This is the section that actually decides whether your leave gets approved. Your doctor must provide:
Diagnosis (or at least a description of the condition)
Date the condition began
Probable duration of the condition
Whether you need continuous leave, intermittent leave, or a reduced schedule
If intermittent: estimated frequency and duration of episodes
Whether you're unable to perform your job functions
Whether you need assistance with basic daily activities, if that applies to your own condition
Common mistakes on WH-380-E:
Doctor writes "as needed" without estimating frequency — HR can legally reject this as incomplete
Doctor doesn't explicitly state that you cannot work, even if the diagnosis implies it
Missing signature or date on the provider section
Illegible handwriting — ask the office to type it or print clearly if the form allows
WH-380-F: Family Member's Serious Health Condition
The **WH-380-F** form ("wh380 f" in search terms — it's the same form, people just type it differently) is the sibling certification to WH-380-E. Its full title is "Certification of Health Care Provider for Family Member's Serious Health Condition," and you use it when you need FMLA leave to care for a spouse, child, or parent rather than for your own condition. Note that FMLA's family definition is narrower here than some employer policies — it doesn't automatically cover siblings, grandparents, or in-laws unless your state law extends the list.
Section I: Employee Portion (You Complete)
Your information (same fields as WH-380-E)
The family member's name and your relationship to them
A brief description of the care you'll provide
Section II: Healthcare Provider Portion (Family Member's Doctor Completes)
The family member's diagnosis
Whether the family member needs care
The type and frequency of care needed
Whether the family member would benefit from your presence for psychological comfort
Estimated duration of the condition and the care needs
Common mistakes on WH-380-F:
Doctor doesn't specify what care the family member actually needs (a diagnosis alone isn't enough)
Doctor doesn't estimate how long care will be needed
Missing the family member's signed authorization to release their medical information to you and your employer
WH-381: Notice of Eligibility and Rights and Responsibilities
Here's where a lot of FMLA paperwork guides get it wrong: WH-381 is not the form that approves your leave. Its actual title is "Notice of Eligibility and Rights and Responsibilities," and it's the first notice your employer sends you — before any certification has even been reviewed.
Your employer must give you the WH-381 within 5 business days of you requesting leave, or of them learning that your absence might qualify for FMLA. It tells you three things:
Whether you're eligible for FMLA at all (based on tenure, hours, and employer size)
What your rights and responsibilities are, including the deadline to return a completed certification
What will happen if you don't provide certification on time
If your employer skips this notice or hands it to you weeks late, that's a paperwork failure on their end, not yours — the 5-business-day clock is a legal requirement, not a courtesy.
WH-382: The Designation Notice
This is the form people usually mean when they think of "the FMLA approval letter," and it's a separate document from WH-381. WH-382, the Designation Notice, comes after your employer has received your completed WH-380-E or WH-380-F certification. It tells you:
Whether your leave is formally designated as FMLA leave
How much FMLA leave you have available (out of your 12-week annual entitlement)
Whether your certification was complete or still needs additional information
Whether you'll be required to use accrued paid leave concurrently with your FMLA leave
Employers must issue the WH-382 within 5 business days of having enough information to make the designation decision — which usually means 5 business days after receiving your certification. If your employer conflates WH-381 and WH-382 into a single conversation, ask for the actual designation notice in writing; verbal confirmation that "you're approved" isn't the same as the documented designation you're entitled to.
WH-384 and WH-385: Military Family Leave Forms
FMLA covers two situations specific to military families, each with its own certification form. These get far less search volume than the WH-380 series, but if a loved one is deployed or injured in service, they're the forms you'll actually need.
WH-384 — Certification of Qualifying Exigency for Military Family Leave — applies when your spouse, child, or parent is a covered military member on active duty (or called to active duty) and you need leave for exigencies like arranging childcare, attending military events, or handling financial and legal arrangements tied to the deployment.
WH-385 — Certification for Serious Injury or Illness of a Current Servicemember — applies to military caregiver leave, which extends FMLA's normal 12-week cap up to 26 weeks in a single 12-month period. The current servicemember's healthcare provider completes this one, confirming the serious injury or illness and the care that's needed.
Both forms follow the same basic structure as WH-380-E and WH-380-F: an employee section and a certifying section, with the same deadlines for submission and correction. If military leave applies to you, our FMLA eligibility guide and employer obligations guide cover how the extended caregiver entitlement interacts with your standard 12-week bank.
DE 2501F Is Not an FMLA Form — Here's the Difference
If you've searched for "de 2501f" alongside FMLA paperwork, it's worth clearing up what that form actually is, because it's easy to conflate the two. DE 2501F is a California state form — the Claim for Paid Family Leave (PFL) Benefits — issued by California's Employment Development Department (EDD), not the U.S. Department of Labor. It's how California workers apply for wage replacement through the state's Paid Family Leave program, which is funded by State Disability Insurance (SDI) payroll deductions.