First established 15 years ago, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was established by the U.S. Department of Labor to protect employees during critical life events. The FMLA regulation requires that "Covered employers must grant an eligible employee up to a total of 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period for one or more of the following reasons:
- for the birth and care of the newborn child of the employee;
- for placement with the employee of a son or daughter for adoption or foster care;
- to care for an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition; or
- to take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition."
Effective January 16, 2009, the rules regarding FMLA were updated to include military leave provisions. The new job protections include coverage for the following situations:
(1) Up to 12 weeks of leave for certain qualifying exigencies arising out of a covered military member's active duty status, or notification of an impending call or order to active duty status, in support of a contingency operation, and
(2) Up to 26 weeks of leave in a single 12-month period to care for a covered service member recovering from a serious injury or illness incurred in the line of duty on active duty. Eligible employees are entitled to a combined total of up to 26 weeks of all types of FMLA leave during the single 12-month period.
As an employer it is important to note these changes and consider how they will affect your workplace. Remember you will also need to update your required Department of Labor (DOL) posters and communicate these change to your staff. Below is a link to the DOL website which provides details of the changes. You can also find the Final Regulation (in PDF and HTML formats), fact sheets and the revised FMLA poster.
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