A bit old, a bit new, and a bit prone to cause trouble. That’s the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), first enacted in 1993, and given its most recent update in January 2009. The new rules preserve the essential function of the act, continuing to mandate up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave with benefits for qualifying employees at companies that employ 50 or more workers. It adds new leave entitlements for military members and their families, clarifies some points of confusion—though perhaps not as much as some employers and labor lawyers would have liked—and adds some new requirements and privileges that employers will be wise to note.
New Military Leave
The primary result of the revised FMLA is to offer new leave entitlements for military service members and their families, says Daniel Ballintine, a shareholder at Larkin Hoffman Daly & Lindgren, Ltd., in Bloomington. It offers military exigency leave of up to 12 weeks for an urgent situation that arises from an employee’s spouse, child, or parent being on active duty or called to active duty. It does not apply to families of career military members.
A “qualifying exigency,” according to the Department of Labor, falls into one of eight categories:
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Deployment with notice of seven days or fewer |
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Military events and related activities, such as send-off activities or meetings of family support groups |
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Child care and school activities, or time to arrange for alternative school or child care, or to provide for urgent child care needs |
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The need to make financial or legal arrangements, such as preparing a will, transferring power of attorney, transferring bank accounts, or arranging military cards and benefits |
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Counseling by someone ofther than a health care provider (such as a religious leader, parenting coach, or psychologist), for a reason that’s arisen from a military deployment |
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Spending time with a military member who has up to five days of leave |
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Post-deployment activities, such as arrival ceremonies and reintegration briefings, that occur within 90 days of a military member’s return |
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Additional activities, mutually agreed to by an employer and an employee, that aren’t covered in the other seven categories |
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