labor lawAdivision of labor law center

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…)

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…)

By some estimates, at least 2 million Americans will become “disabled” – without any change in their medical condition – on January 1, 2009. That’s because many more people are included in the new 2009 EEOC definition of disability than in the past.

According to the EEOC, a number of conditions that have not been considered disabilities in the past, will be disabilities under the law in 2009.

That is important news for employers, who must make reasonable accommodations for disabled workers.

In the past, under old EEOC guidelines, an employee was not considered disabled if they could complete all “major life functions” like grooming and dressing themselves, using a phone book, and using public transportation. If the employee had a condition that “substantially limited” one or more of those major life functions, he or she met the EEOC definition (more…)