Changes in FMLA Related to Military
Injured or Ill Members of the Armed Forces
The Labor Department will release regulations November 14, 2008 which will let family members of seriously injured or ill members of the armed services take up to 26 weeks off from work each year to care for them.
The military caregiver provision gives family members up to 26 weeks off, longer than the normal maximum of 12 weeks under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The provision also allows additional family members, including siblings and cousins – not just spouses, parents or children – to take time off.
Relatives of National Guard or Reservists Called to Duty
The regulations also will allow family members of those called to active duty in the National Guard or the Reserves to take up to 12 weeks off so they can manage needed and often rushed matters regarding a service member’s departure or return.
Labor Department officials said the law creating the leave for such situations did not cover regular active-duty military members. DOL indicates that the provision is to assist families of deploying Guard or Reservists where significant family adjustments must be made as a result.
Other Changes
- Allowing employers to require “fitness-for-duty” evaluations for workers who took leave time and are returning to jobs that could endanger themselves or others.
- Forcing workers to tell employers in advance when they want leave time. Current regulations allow employees to tell employers up to two days after not showing up for work that they are using leave time. Employees will now have to follow their employer’s regular rules for informing them about missing work “absent unusual circumstances.”