Unlike Cam Newton, it might not be a good idea for you to dive at that football. Employees are eligible for FMLA leave when they have a “serious health condition” that makes the employee unable to perform one or more of the essential functions of the employee’s job. That does not mean that an employee has to be bed-ridden and unable to leave her home or to participate in social events. It just means that if there are essential functions of the job that an employee cannot perform because of a serious health condition, the employee is entitled to leave. Suppose for example, the employee is recovering from surgery that has temporarily left her with out function in her dominant hand. If the employee is employed as a typist — use of her hand is probably an essential job function and she is entitled to leave until she recovers. It doesn’t mean she can’t hoist a beer with the non-injured arm after a Bronco’s victory.