Labor Law Center Blog » Blog Archive

Ohio NDAA

February 15th, 2008 Posted by Amelia

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2008 provides for an expansion of FMLA leave to up to 26 weeks in a year, which affects nearly every Ohio employer.

Currently, under traditional FMLA (Family Medical and Leave Act) leave, an employee can take unpaid, job-protected leave for up to 12 weeks per year for certain personal reasons. These reasons include caring for an ill spouse, child or parent, and for the care of a newborn child, a newly adopted child and a newly fostered child.

The new NDAA provision applies to families of military personnel, specifically to those of an injured solider in active military service, or on deployment with the National Guard or Reserve. According to the new NDAA, a parent, spouse, son or daughter can take expanded FMLA leave to care for a family member who is an injured soldier. Under this provision, aunts, uncles and cousins, may also be allowed expanded FMLA in some cases as “next of kin”.

In addition to caring for injured military personnel, the new NDAA permits parents, spouses, sons and daughters to take expanded FMLA leave to stand in for a family member who is a solder called to active duty. This provision allows a family member to not only take care of an ill person in that soldier’s charge, but also to care for his or her healthy children, too.

The new NDAA went into effect immediately, allowing families of soldiers to start taking extended FMLA leave as of January 28, 2008.

The U.S. Department of Labor is scrambling to finalize the details of the NDAA, which could take several weeks. Interim regulations allow companies to charge paid leave to the 26 weeks of unpaid FMLA, as long as the employee is informed in advance. Until the finalized regulations are published, the U. S. Department of Labor expects companies to comply with the expanded FMLA to the best of their ability.

In 1993, a ground-breaking federal law was passed. The Family Medical and Leave Act (FMLA) was the first law to require employers to provide unpaid, job-protected leave for employees with health concerns.

A new law, NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act of 2008) was recently passed to expand FMLA, and is the first major expansion of that law since 1993.

Prior to FMLA, an employee who missed work because of major surgery or chemotherapy was at risk of becoming unemployed. Companies dealt with these cases on an individual basis, using their own company policy. If an employee needed leave for medical reasons, the business decided how much for how long. Often, after a worker missed 2 to 3 weeks of work because of illness, the company simply fired him or her.

Passage of the FMLA provided a standard for employers with over 50 workers within a 75 mile radius. Under this law, employees are entitled to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to care for their own illness, or to care for a seriously ill parent, spouse or child. FMLA also covers recovery time and care of the baby after childbirth, plus adoptions and newly fostering a child under 18.

The law guarantees that when the employee returns to work, he or she will still have a job. Usually, the original job is available. If not, the company is required to provide a job with similar working conditions, wages and benefits.

Expanding FMLA isn’t completely new. Eleven states have increased their FMLA benefits already. Ohio includes grandparents and in-laws in its definition of family member. Other states allow more than 12 weeks of leave, while other states increase the amount of benefits.

The NDAA of 2008 will expand the federal FMLA. To what degree is currently unknown. The U. S. Department of Labor has not yet published the regulations for this new act. Once those regulations are finalized, all eligible employers will be required to follow the new mandates.