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The U.S. Department of Labor continues to work on new FMLA regulations related to leave for military families.

Under the bill approving the military budget, the National Defense Authorization Act, the president expanded FMLA to military families when the soldier is deployed in a foreign country.

The FMLA leave that was granted to members of the Reserve and National Guard under the 2009 regulations is now extended to families of armed services members who are on active duty in a foreign country.  

The new regulations are expected to be (more…)

A federal mandatory sick leave law may soon be passed. That law would require employers to give workers paid sick leave and to display a poster notifying employees of their right to sick leave.

The House Education and Labor Committee continues to consider provisions of HR 3991, the House Emergency Influenza Containment Act. The bill, introduced by Rep. George Miller of California, would require that employers provide 5 paid sick days to employees.

Part of the impetus for this action is the H1N1 influenza virus, also called the Swine Flu. Federal legislators have been considering a mandatory sick leave law for more than (more…)

A new law signed by President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009 expands FMLA for military families even more than the NDAA or National Defense Authorization Act of 2008.

This change in the law will require every employer to update the Military Caregiver poster, even if they do not have any employees who qualify.

The  National Defense Authorization Act for 2010 provides for two  major changes to current FMLA regulations: 

• Families of Armed Forces members on active duty are covered, not just family members of the National Guard and Reserve
•  Military caregiver leave is expanded to cover the families of some veterans 

It appears that these changes are retroactive, according to Matthew Effland, an Indianapolis attorney specializing in FMLA issues.

Active Duty Included

Under the new law, when a member of the Armed Forces is deployed to a foreign country, his or her spouse, son, daughter, parent, step-child, or step-parent can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected FMLA leave for any “qualifying exigency.”

Many employers have already been granting this leave to military families, and not just the families of Reserve or National Guard members who are called to active duty. In fact, it is unclear why the U.S. Department of Labor interpreted the original law so narrowly in the final days of the second Bush administration.

Under the current regulations, qualifying exigencies include attending military-sponsored functions, making appropriate financial and legal arrangements, handling details of a short-notice deployment, attending counseling, and making alternate childcare arrangements. In addition, an employee can take up to 5 days of FMLA for rest and recreation or R&R under the law. The employee can also use FMLA up to 90 days following deployment for arrival ceremonies, post-deployment ceremonies and other military events.

Military Caregiver Leave Expanded to Veterans

The NDAA also permits an employee who is the son, daughter, spouse, or parent to take up to 26 weeks of unpaid, job-protected FMLA during a 12-month period to provide care for a service member who has been injured or contracted a disease in the line of duty.

This extended FMLA leave also applies to the injured soldier’s next-of-kin, regardless of the relationship. This means in some cases that an in-law, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle or cousin could qualify for military caregiver leave.

The new law permits the (more…)

Already in 2009, the U.S. Department of Labor has implemented the most sweeping changes to the FMLA or federal Family and Medical Leave Act in its 15-year history.

These changes went into effect on January 16, 2009. The complete changes are complex, but here is the crucial information that employers need to know.

Required and Optional Paperwork

First, and perhaps most importantly, employers are required to give a Notice of Eligibility to any employee when it is believed that the employee may have an FMLA-qualifying absence. The employee does not have to request FMLA or mention the words FMLA. It is the employer’s duty to make the employee aware of available unpaid leave by giving the employee this notice without being asked.

The new rules change notice and certification requirements under FMLA. The new regulations attempt to clarify communications and information collection between the employer and employee by introducing two new optional medical certification forms. (more…)

Every employer should be aware of several changes under the 2009 FMLA regulation. These new rules permit employees to take FMLA leave under circumstances that were not previously covered.

One of the biggest changes, according to the SHRM or Society of Human Resource Management, is that the husband of a pregnant woman is entitled to FMLA leave for prenatal visits under some circumstances. The FMLA has always permitted men to take “paternity” leave to bond with a newborn or newly adopted infant, or a newly place foster child under the age of 18. And the FMLA regulations always covered a pregnant woman’s prenatal appointments.

However, the new 2009 FMLA regulations specifically permit the husband of a pregnant woman to take time off to provide her with physical or psychological care for prenatal visits. The language of the new regulations, however, apparently restricts this leave to the spouse of a woman who has severe morning sickness or other complications. (more…)