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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…)

One new 2009 FMLA regulation clarifies the issue of overtime under FMLA. Under the new regulation, when overtime is mandatory, an employee can use their FMLA leave to work only 40 hours per week, provided the FMLA has been approved and all the required paperwork is in place.

However, when overtime is voluntary, if the employee declines, the time does not count as FMLA leave under the 2009 U.S. Department of Labor regulations.

Suppose Susan works in a retail clothing store. She is pregnant, and has been approved for intermittent FMLA leave. During most of the year, overtime is voluntary in the store. In October, Susan’s boss requests that she work 7 hours of overtime during the week. Susan declines. Since the overtime is voluntary, the 7 hours are  not counted towards Susan’s total 12 weeks of FMLA leave.

However, in November and December, overtime is mandatory at the store where Susan works, due to the busy holiday shopping season. All employees are expected to (more…)

An important provision of the new FMLA regulations permits employees to substitute paid leave for unpaid FMLA. This is a major departure from the previous regulations, which permitted an employer to prohibit the use of paid vacation by employees on FMLA.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, an employee can substitute paid leave benefits for unpaid FMLA, as long as the employee follows the employer’s terms and conditions regarding those benefits. (However, the terms and conditions should be previous established, preferably in writing, and must be non-discriminatory.) The employer has a responsibility to inform employees of the terms and conditions of the paid leave policy or policies.

For example, a company may have a policy that paid vacation must be requested in writing at least 4 weeks in advance. When Jennifer goes into labor on January 15, she can immediately take FMLA. However, she will need to comply with the (more…)