The Department of Labor issued a final rule amending the Family and Medical Leave Act. Specifically, the final rule revises the FMLA rules on the coverage of military caregiver and exigency leaves and changes the eligibility requirements for airline industry employees. The final rule will require modifications to FMLA policies, forms and postings.
The Family and Medical Leave Act provides certain eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year. It also requires that group health benefits be maintained during the leave. It applies to the following employers:
- A private-sector employer with 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year;
- A public agency, including a local, state, or Federal government agency, regardless of the number of employees it employs; or
- A public or private elementary or secondary school, regardless of the number of employees it employs.
Only eligible employees are entitled to take FMLA leave. To be an eligible employee, the employee must:
- Work for a covered employer;
- Have worked for the employer for at least 12 months;
- Have at least 1,250 hours of service for the employer during the 12 month period immediately preceding the leave; and
- Work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles.
The final rule makes the following changes to the FMLA.
- Adds parental care as a reason for exigency leave (leave to deal with exigencies related to a call to active duty);
- Allows up to 15 calendar days for leave to bond with a military member on rest and recuperation leave;
- Extends military caregiver leave to family members of certain veterans;
- Clarifies that leave can be granted to family members of those in the regular armed forces;
- Explains that where it is physically impossible for an employee to begin or end work midway through a shift, the entire period the employee is absent counts against FMLA leave entitlement;
- Clarifies how to calculate intermittent and reduced-schedule leave; and
- Aligns certain calculations for airline flight crews with earlier released guidance.
The DOL has released new FMLA forms that may be helpful for employers. Employers should review their existing FMLA documentation to make sure the new rules are captured correctly. Changes are effective March 8, 2013.
