A recent issue of the ‘Federal Register,’ published by the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division, gives the final word on a much-anticipated amendment to the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which allows workers unpaid time off the job, without jeopardizing job security, when particular personal or family need arises.  Time off is limited, of course, and conditions apply.  New FMLA regulations, becoming effective January 16, 2009, will loosen some of those conditions, especially for military personnel and their families.

The 1993 FMLA allowed eligible workers to take as much as 12 weeks per year off work, without pay but with no threat of professional repercussion, if the worker or an immediate family member were recovering from serious illness.  Protected leave also applied to the birth or adoption of a child and caring for a sick child.

The act’s original wording left it open to misinterpretation, an issue addressed in the amended 2008 act.  Clearer definitions in the new act include:

• ‘Serious health conditions’ now means missing work more than three days in a row and seeing a doctor about that same ailment twice in a 30-day period.
• ‘Periodic visits to a health care provider’ for management of chronic medical conditions means two doctor visits per year.
• Legal documents between employer and employee have been streamlined to minimize conflict and error.
• An employee’s immediate supervisor is now banned by this law from contacting a worker’s healthcare providers.  The new rule places this responsibility in someone else’s hands.

In conjunction with the The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110-181), which extended the original FMLA protections to military personnel, including those called to or on active duty and those pending deployment orders from all US military branches, including the National Guard and Reserves.  Today’s release of the the 2008 FMLA amendment extends military coverage under the act.

Under the new regulations, any time a soldier is on the temporary disability retired list due to illness or injury, his or her “spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin” can claim as many as 26 weeks of job-protected leave from work to care for the disabled soldier.

These same family members will now be protected for 12 weeks of leave beginning any time a servicemember receives notification of pending orders to deploy.  The protection continues throughout the servicemember’s tour of duty and subsequent release.

The definition of “qualifying exigencies” for military personnel and their families has been expanded, too.  The final FMLA ruling includes federally protected leave for military servicemembers and their families under the following circumstances:

• Deployment orders coming on short notice;
• Events and activities related to military service;
• Time to attend children’s school events and tend to their care;
• Time to address legal and financial matters;
• Counseling;
• Rest and recuperation;
• Activities after deployment; and
• Any other situations mutually agreed to by both employer and employee.

The 2008 amendment is the first revision ever made to the original 1993 FMLA ruling.