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Maine Military Family Leave Notice

April 10th, 2008 Posted by Amelia

The 2008 NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) went into effect January 28, 2008.

As a result, the U. S. Department of Labor is requiring all employers to post the new Military Family Leave poster immediately. The poster should be displayed in a permanent spot that is accessible for all employees. The Wage and Hour Division enforces this law, and companies that do not comply will be subject to penalties.

This applies to every employer in Maine and across the nation.

The 2008 NDAA (HR 4986) contains a provision to expand FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) for families of military personnel. Under this new law, when National Guard, Reserve and active military are injured, the families of these military personnel are eligible to take up to 26 weeks of FMLA to care for them.

Treatments eligible under the 2008 NDAA include caring for personnel on temporary disability from illness or injury. Personnel undergoing outpatient treatments and mental or physical therapy are also eligible.

In addition to the extension of FMLA from 12 to 26 weeks in some cases, the NDAA has also extended the definition of family. Previously, “family” meant parent, spouse or child, but with the 2008 NDAA, aunts, uncles, and cousins may be entitled to leave as the soldier’s “next-of-kin.”

Another provision of the extended FMLA provides family members leave to act as a substitute caregiver for anyone under that person’s care.

The effective date of the new FMLA was the same date as President George W. W. Bush signed it into law, January 28, 2008. This means military families have been eligible to take the extended FMLA leave since that date. Unfortunately, the finalized regulations for NDAA have not been published yet, so employers are without guidelines. Until the Secretary of Labor issues the final regulations, companies are asked to grant leave to eligible families as an “act of good faith”.

More Maine Military Family Leave Notice

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2008 will expand FMLA leave for the first time since the FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) was signed in 1993. Exactly how the FMLA leave will change is not yet known, but the U. S. Department of Labor hopes to publish finalized regulations soon.

On February 11, 2008, two changes were published regarding how much time a company has to inform workers of their FMLA rights, and regarding the medical certification process.

The major change, however, pertained to how FMLA absences are reported. Prior to these changes, an employee could take FMLA with notifying the employer in advance. Now, the worker will be required to follow the employer’s standard reporting procedure. Normally, that mean the worker will have to report an absence prior to the beginning of his or her shift.

Prior to the enactment of FMLA in 1993, any worker who fell ill, or required surgery and missed a lot of work could lose his or her job. Companies often just fired someone who had been gone more than a couple of weeks. Each case was handled individually, and there was no set policy for companies to follow. Each employer usually set its own terms.

The FMLA broke new ground in not only allowing a worker to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a serious illness, but also guaranteeing that worker’s job.

Employees who had worked at least 1,250 hours over the past previous 12 months for the same company could take time off to care for their own illness or for an illness of a child, parent or spouse. In addition, FMLA leave could be taken to care for a newly adopted child, a newly fostered child (under the age of 18) or to care or a newborn.

For a company to be eligible to grant FMLA leave, however, it must have 50 or more workers within a 75 mile radius.