Leave of Absence

New Leave of Absence Administrator

As of July 1, 2025, AbsenceOne is the new administrator of Amgen’s Leave of Absence and Disability programs. Learn more in the frequently asked questions.

The following information is intended to provide an overview of certain benefit and leave of absence policies and programs offered to certain Amgen U.S.-based staff members (excluding Amgen Manufacturing Limited LLC staff members). It does not constitute an offer of employment or compensation. Should any discrepancy exist between the information stated on this page and the applicable policy, plan or program documents governing an Amgen benefit, the official policy, such as the Leave of Absence Policy and the Absence from Work Policy, or the corresponding plan or program documents maintained by Human Resources, will prevail. You are encouraged to review the applicable policies and obtain copies of plan and program documents and review them in detail. Amgen reserves the right to amend the applicable policies and change or terminate the programs and benefits described at any time without notice.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Parental Leave Medical Leave Personal Leave Taking a Leave of Absence

You may be entitled to take a leave of absence for various reasons, including personal illness or injury, caring for a family member, personal reasons, and military duty. Become familiar with the various leaves available to you at Amgen.

For detailed information about leaves of absence, review Amgen’s Leave of Absence and Absence from Work policies.* Or, check out the frequently asked questions.

*Accessible only to Amgen Staff Members when signed in to the Amgen Network or VPN.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

You may be entitled to take up to 12-weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per any rolling 12-month period. You may request FMLA leave for various reasons, including for your own serious health condition which renders you unable to perform one or more essential functions of your job.

Family care leave

You may also request FMLA leave to provide care for a family member (spouse, child or parent) with a serious health condition, for the birth of your child, and for the placement of a child with you for adoption or foster care.

Military caregiver leave

You may be entitled to take up to 26-weeks of unpaid job-protected military caregiver FMLA leave in a single 12-month period to care for your spouse, child, parent or next of kin who is a covered service member, under certain health-related circumstances.

To be eligible for FMLA leave you must have at least one year of service and have worked for at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months immediately preceding the date on which the leave is to commence. FMLA runs concurrently with all eligible leave types and may be taken intermittently.

Refer to the Leave of Absence Policy for further details regarding FMLA leave.

Follow the steps for Taking a Leave of Absence.

If you are enrolled in Amgen benefits, you will receive a letter and a bill in the mail on how to pay your insurance premiums. For questions, please contact Amgen Benefits Center at 1-800-97-AMGEN.

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Parental Leave

You may take up to 10-weeks of paid parental leave to care for your child after birth, for the placement of a child for adoption or foster care or when you are designated as the legal guardian of a child. To be entitled to take parental leave under the Amgen policy, the birth, adoption, foster care placement or legal guardianship designation must have occurred on or after your hire date. Leave must be completed within one year of the birth, adoption or placement of your child. When both parents work at Amgen, you are both entitled to take parental leave, if eligible.

For information about Amgen’s adoption benefit and to apply for reimbursement, go to Family Resources.

If you reside in a state with state-paid leave benefits, you will receive partial payment from the state and partial payment from Amgen. Related documentation will be requested from you.

Refer to the Leave of Absence Policy for further details regarding parental leave.

Follow the steps for Taking a Leave of Absence.

For related benefits, go to Family Resources and Lyra Health under Emotional Well-being.

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Medical Leave

You may request medical leave for your own illness, injury, pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition.

This medical leave is unpaid unless you are otherwise eligible for short-term, long-term, supplemental disability benefits, or other benefits such as workers’ compensation benefits or state disability insurance, or unless you elect to use available Personal/Family Illness time or accrued and available vacation time.

If eligible, you may take up to 12 months of medical leave, minus the amount of time you took in the preceding 12 months for all other leaves. Longer leaves may be provided as a reasonable accommodation, when required. Amgen also provides reasonable accommodations to enable qualified individuals to return from medical leave and perform the essential functions of the job in accordance with applicable law.

Except when legally required, Amgen does not guarantee to reinstate you to the same or an equivalent position, to assist you in finding a position with Amgen, or to inform you if your current position is being filled, modified, or eliminated while you are on medical leave.

Before being reinstated, you must submit an appropriate medical certification from a healthcare provider stating that you are able to return to work. In addition, Amgen requests that you give Amgen’s Administrator at least one (1) weeks’ notice of your return to work date.

A medical release form is required at least two-days prior to your anticipated return to work date to AbsenceOne. This will be included in your intake packet.

Refer to the Leave of Absence Policy for further details regarding medical leave.

Follow the steps for Taking a Leave of Absence.

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Personal Leave

If you cannot cover a leave of absence with paid time off or other leaves in the Amgen Leaves of Absence Policy, you may request a Personal leave of absence. To be eligible, you must have completed at least one year of service with Amgen. Staff members may request personal leave for up to six months. Amgen may grant such requests in its sole discretion. Personal leave is generally unpaid and runs concurrently with all other leaves. While on personal leave, your position may be filled at any time.

You may also request to convert to a Personal leave after exhausting the medical leave available under the Amgen Leave of Absence Policy for the purpose of pursuing Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. The sole purpose of this Personal leave is to afford staff members the opportunity to establish their eligibility for accelerated vesting of certain long-term incentive grants, subject to certain requirements.

When Personal leave is approved, all accrued, but unused vacation hours are automatically cashed out and paid on the following paycheck. You can view your balance in your Workday Profile > Absence.

Starting a personal leave will impact your benefit programs in different ways depending on the specific plan or program in which you are enrolled.

For example, if you are enrolled in health insurance, your coverage will continue for 30 days upon the start of your personal leave. On day 31, you will have the option to enroll in COBRA. If you have any questions, please contact Amgen Benefits Center at 1-800-97-AMGEN.

Refer to the Leave of Absence Policy for further details regarding medical leave.

Follow the steps for Taking a Leave of Absence.

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Taking a Leave of Absence

  • Review the Staff Member Checklist.
  • Notify your manager of your intent to take a leave of absence and your leave dates.
  • File a claim with AbsenceOne. File a claim within 30 days of your intended leave, or as soon as possible if the need for leave was unpredictable, by calling 888-550-1449 or on the AbsenceOne website. It may take three to four days for your claim to be processed.
    • If taking family care leave: Be prepared with the name and contact information of the physician in charge of your family member’s care.
    • If taking personal leave: Approval is required. The leave of absence team will obtain approval from your manager, second level manager, and Human Resource Business Partner prior to the start of leave.
    • If taking parental leave: If you use parental leave intermittently, you will need to notify AbsenceOne each time you go out on leave.
      • Notify AbsenceOne when baby or child is here! Be prepared to share proof of birth, adoption or foster placement, or legal guardianship (i.e., hospital release forms, Court documents, etc.). Please note: Leave payment will not be issued without adequate documentation.
      • Add your baby or child to benefits (if desired) within 31 days of birth or adoption by calling Amgen Benefits Center at 800-97-AMGEN. If you miss this deadline to enroll, you will need to wait until the annual enrollment period to enroll your child in your benefits.
  • AbsenceOne will assign a claims examiner. During your leave, notify your examiner of any leave date changes (i.e., returning to work early, extension of leave).
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