FMLA military leave provisions allow unpaid time of for caregivers and family members of U.S. military personnel.
FEB. 7 UPDATE: Final Rule and New FMLA Posting Released.
SEE RELATED FMLA POST.
The U.S. Department of Labor is updating the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to include provisions authorized as part of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2010 regarding unpaid leave for caregivers to military personnel. The updated proposed regulations also incorporate the Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act that clarified service eligibility for airline flight crew members.
The FMLA applies to all public agencies and to private-sector employers with 50 or more employees.
The FMLA military leave provisions allow two types of unpaid leave for eligible employees: one as a “military caregiver,” which allows 26 weeks to care for a family member who is a current service member who has sustained serious injury or illness in the line of duty; the second as a “qualifying exigency” for employees whose spouse, child, or parent is called up for active duty in the National Guard or Reserves. Click here for the Department’s FAQ for military family leave.
Some of the key proposed changes include:
- Expands military caregiver leave to cover eligible employees whose family members are recent veterans with a serious injury or illness.
- Allows FMLA military caregiver leave for eligible family members of veterans with serious injury or illness who were active members of the military (including National Guard and Reserves) within the past five years.
- Expands the definition of serious injury or illness for both current service members and veterans to include preexisting conditions aggravated in the line of duty.
- Includes hours-of-service eligibility requirement for airline flight crew employees based on unique scheduling requirements of the airline industry.
Changes to the FMLA language would affect the poster mandated by the Department of Labor. Once the new regulations are finalized, go into effect, and the poster is issued, employers must display an updated posting with the most current FMLA language that includes additions to the military leave provisions.
As of January 30, 2012, the Department’s proposal is undergoing a 60-day public comment period before final approval of the changes. The GovDocs research team will continue to monitor the department – along with over 500 other state and federal agencies – to make sure that GovDocs customers remain first to know. That diligent research is another great reason GovDocs’ automatic Update Service is so useful for staying on top of your labor law compliance.
