New FMLA Benefits For Military Effective March 8

On February 6, 2013, the Department of Labor ("DOL") issued its final regulations on Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") relating to military leave.  These regulations will go into effect March 8, 2013.

According to the DOL, “providing job-protected leave for caregivers of covered veterans under the military caregiver provision is expected to increase family involvement in the veteran’s recovery, improve self-reliance and access to resources for caregivers, and reduce negative outcomes for covered veterans and their families.”

The Department of Labor estimates that as many as 381,000 employers and government agencies could be affected by new regulations.

Military Leave Under the FMLA

There are two categories of job-protected leave under the FMLA for eligible employees with military family members: (1) caregiver leave of up to 26 weeks for those employees who provide care for covered service members with a serious injury or illness; and (2) exigency leave of up to 12 weeks for qualifying exigencies arising out of the fact that a covered military member is on active duty or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty in support of a contingency operation.  Click here to see a side-by-side comparison of of the current and final regulations.

Summary of Changes to the Military Family Leave
Effective March 8, 2013, FMLA regulations will:

• Expand exigency leave to include eligible employees with family members serving in the Regular Armed Forces, and further require that the military family member be deployed to a foreign country;
• Increase exigency leave for rest and recuperation from five days under previous regulations to a maximum of 15 days;
• Extend exigency leave to cover parental care;
• Expand the definition of serious injury or illness for caregiver leave to include pre-existing injuries or illnesses of current service members that were aggravated in the line of duty;
• Extend caregiver leave to include care for a covered veteran, defined as an individual who is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation or therapy for a serious injury or illness, and who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable at any time during the five-year period prior to the first date the eligible employee takes FMLA leave to care for the covered veteran;
• Expand the definition of serious injury or illness of a covered veteran to include, among other things, a continuation of a serious injury or illness that was incurred or aggravated when the covered veteran was a member of the Armed Forces;
• Expand the list of authorized health care providers from whom an employee may obtain a certification to include those outside the military, and permit employees to request a second and third opinion from health care providers who are not affiliated with the military.

Bottom Line for Employers

• You have a few weeks to before these revisions take effect.  Use this time to become familiar with the revisions and their implications and to:
• Revise FMLA policies to reflect the expanded categories of caregiver and exigency leave reflected in the final regulations.
• Continue to train supervisors and human resource professionals on FMLA leave to insure that the requests are addressed and that necessary certification processes are followed.
• Replace your current FMLA posters with the revised poster (available on the DOL website). 

If you have any questions about these regulations or FMLA in general, contact me or visit my website.