In light of important new rules on the FMLA that government announced Monday, we’re foregoing our usual column to bring you this HRDA News Extra.
At a recent HR conference, a speaker said, “Let’s talk about how to manage intermittent leave.” He paused, and then laughed, as did the audience. That’s been the prevailing attitude toward FMLA by much of the business community for 15 years.
But there finally may be light at the end of the tunnel with the release on Monday. February 11, of proposed changes to the FMLA. These were on top of actual changes to the Act’s military leave provisions, which largely went into effect on January 28, even though implementing regulations are yet to be published.
What are the new requirements and what do employers need to do now? Let’s look at some of the changes and discuss a very timely February 28 audio conference to help you learn more.
Military FMLA Leave
First, the new military leave law requires employers to provide up to 26 weeks of FMLA leave to eligible employees to care for recovering injured or ill service members and 12 weeks of leave because of any “qualifying exigency” arising out of the fact that a covered family member is or has been called to be on active duty. The qualifying exigency provisions will not be effective until the DOL issues final FMLA regulations defining the term “qualifying exigency.” The rest of the law went into effect on January 28.
Couple new military FMLA leave law with DOL’s proposed changes to FMLA and you’re looking at a complex compliance picture. Let BLR’s February 28 audio conference, FMLA Changes and New Proposed Regs: What You Need To Know To Comply Now, help you sort out the actions you need to take. And if unable to attend, a CD may be ordered. Find out more
Proposed Changes to FMLA
Then, as icing on the cake, DOL published proposed changes to the FMLA on February 11, that would, in the opinion of many employers, clarify some aspects of FMLA that have proved troublesome in the law’s 15-year history. These include:
–Tightening of notice requirements … on both sides. Employees would now have to let the boss know they need FMLA leave no later than the next day following a qualified need for the leave. Now workers can take 2 days before they report in. What’s more, they’ll need to follow tighter call-in procedures. For their part, employers will now have to provide notice of FMLA rights annually, but will have longer to provide designation of leave – 5 days instead of the current 2 days.
–Easing of medical certification. Under current law, employers are barred from contacting a worker’s health provider about the need for leave. The proposed changes would remove that restriction. Some employers have looked for this change so doctors have fuller information about the worker’s responsibilities and working conditions before making judgments on a worker’s need for time off.
–Continuing treatment redefined. Workers now can qualify as needing continuing treatment if they make two medical visits over any period of time … even months. The new changes would require those two visits in a 30-day period, making it more likely that there really is a serious condition present.
In addition to the above, there are further proposed changes dealing with how nonconsecutive periods of service are calculated to determine FMLA eligibility, and other matters.
Before making such changes final, the U.S. Department of Labor publishes a draft in the Federal Register (that happened Monday) and allows a public comment period. If the time is not extended, employers have until April 11, 2008 to submit their thoughts to the Department of Labor.
What Should Employers Do?
As is always the case with regulations, there are numerous nuances and complexities beyond the broad strokes we’ve laid out. It’s best to let an expert explain them.
That’s just want we’ll do in a new February 28 audio conference, FMLA Changes and New Proposed Regs: What You Need To Know To Comply Now. The presentation will focus on the military leave changes (now in effect) and discuss the proposed changes (which soon may be). As with all BLR audio conferences, one fee trains all the staff you can fit around a conference phone, and your satisfaction is assured or you get a full refund. Can’t attend on that date? Pre-order the conference CD.
For more information on the conference and the experts presenting it, to register, or to pre-order the CD, click here