FMLA UPDATED FOR MILITARY FAMILIES

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, as of January 28, 2008 has been amended to provide protection for military families.

Entitlement To Leave: Situations that qualify for FMLA now includes “Because of any qualifying exigency…arising out of the fact that the spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent of the employee is on active duty (or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty) in the Armed Forces in support of a contingency operation.”

It also creates a new type of leave: Servicemember Family Leave, under which an eligible employee who is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a covered servicemember shall be entitled to a total of 26 workweeks of leave during a 12-month period to care for the servicemember during a single 12-month period. This leave cannot be combined with a traditional FMLA leave.

The text of the law is at: https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/1421.htm.

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