In the case of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave to care for a family member, once the employer has determined whether an individual employee is eligible for FMLA leave, many times the next hurdle is determining if the family member is covered by the FMLA. This determination has become somewhat more complicated as the definition of who is a covered family member has changed over the past few years.
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State of celebration rule. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule revising the definition of “spouse” under the FMLA. The final rule came in reaction to the United States Supreme Court’s June 2013 decision in United States v. Windsor, which found that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional.