The U.S. Department of Labor on Feb. 5 finalized a long-awaited rule ensuring that families of eligible veterans have the same right to job-protected FMLA leave as families of military service members. The final rule also ensures the rights of military families to take leave to attend to financial matters and other types of day-to-day issues that may occur when a service member is deployed. Go here to read the full story.
Moreover, the 424-page regulation clarifies provisions on the calculation of intermittent or reduced schedule FMLA leave, including increments of leave. Many employers and human resources groups have eagerly awaited — and in some cases — dreaded this clarification. Despite their protests, DOL included a provision prohibiting organizations from requiring an employee to take more leave than necessary. In addition, employers now will be required to track FMLA leave using the smallest increment of time used for other forms of leave.
The announcement of the final rule’s issuance comes the same day as the 20th anniversary of the FMLA’s enactment.
Background
The final rule incorporates FMLA military leave provisions enacted by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. That law amended the FMLA to provide families of eligible veterans with the same job-protected FMLA leave currently available to families of military service members. It also enables more military families to take leave for activities that arise when a service member is deployed.
The final rule also implements the amendments made to the FMLA by the Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act so that airline personnel and flight crews are better able to make use of the FMLA’s protections, DOL stated.
‘Physical Impossibility’ Rule Stays
The FMLA’s physical impossibility provision provides that where it is physically impossible for an employee to commence or end work mid-way through a shift the entire period that the employee is forced to be absent is designated as FMLA leave and counted against the employee’s FMLA leave entitlement.
Despite concerns voiced by employer and employee groups, DOL said it decided to retain this rule because it “recognizes the unique circumstances that can make it physically impossible to immediately return employees to work when they need to use intermittent or reduced schedule FMLA leave in certain industries.”
Military Caregiver Leave
In sum, the implemented changes to the FMLA military leave provisions extend:
- the availability of FMLA leave to family members of individuals in the regular Armed Forces for qualifying exigencies arising from a servicemember’s deployment, and defines deployments covered under FMLA;
- FMLA military caregiver leave for family members of current servicemembers to include an injury or illness that existed before service and was aggravated in the line of duty on active duty; and
- FMLA military caregiver leave to family members of certain veterans with serious injuries or illnesses.