Eligible employee means:

1. An employee who has been employed for a total of at least 12 months by the employer on the date on which any FMLA leave is to commence, except that an employer need not consider any period of previous employment that occurred more than seven years before the date of the most recent hiring of the employee, unless:
   1. The break in service is occasioned by the fulfillment of the employee’s Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), 38 U.S.C. 4301, et seq., covered service obligation (the period of absence from work due to or necessitated by USERRA-covered service must be also counted in determining whether the employee has been employed for at least 12 months by the employer, but this section does not provide any greater entitlement to the employee than would be available under the USERRA); or
   2. A written agreement, including a collective bargaining agreement, exists concerning the employer’s intention to rehire the employee after the break in service (e.g., for purposes of the employee furthering his or her education or for childrearing purposes); and
2. Who, on the date on which any FMLA leave is to commence, has met the hours of service requirement by having been employed for at least 1,250 hours of service with such employer during the previous 12-month period, or for an airline flight crew employee, in the previous 12 months, having worked or been paid for not less than 60 percent of the applicable total monthly guarantee and having worked or been paid for not less than 504 hours, not counting personal commute time, or vacation, medical or sick leave (see § 825.801(b)), except that:
   1. An employee returning from fulfilling his or her USERRA-covered obligation shall be credited with the hours of service that would have been performed but for the period of absence from work due to or necessitated by USERRA-covered service in determining whether the employee met the hours of service requirement (accordingly, a person reemployed following absence from work due to or necessitated by USERRA-covered service has the hours that would have been worked for the employer (or, for an airline flight crew employee, would have been worked or paid by the employer) added to any hours actually worked (or, for an airline flight crew employee, actually worked or paid) during the previous 12-month period to meet the hours of service requirement); and
   2. To determine the hours that would have been worked (or, for an airline flight crew employee, would have been worked or paid) during the period of absence from work due to or necessitated by USERRA-covered service, the employee’s pre-service work schedule can generally be used for calculations.
3. Who is employed in any State of the United States, the District of Columbia or any Territories or possession of the United States.
4. Excludes any Federal officer or employee covered under subchapter V of chapter 63 of title 5, United States Code.
5. Excludes any employee of the United States House of Representatives or the United States Senate covered by the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. 1301.
6. Excludes any employee who is employed at a worksite at which the employer employs fewer than 50 employees if the total number of employees employed by that employer within 75 miles of that worksite is also fewer than 50.
7. Excludes any employee employed in any country other than the United States or any Territory or possession of the United States.