The Department of Labor (DOL) has published a final rule on the
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which will become effective on
January 16, 2009. The rule both implements recent amendments to the
FMLA that provide leave entitlements for family of military
servicemembers and revises the DOL's prior FMLA regulations in
various respects. The following is a summary of the highlights of
the new rule.
Military Family Leave
The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008 (NDAA), which
President Bush signed into law on January 28, 2008, created two new
categories of FMLA leave for families of military servicemembers:
(1) "qualifying exigency" leave, stemming from the call
to active duty of an employee's family member who is in the
National Guard or military Reserve, and (2) "military
caregiver leave," providing employees with up to 26 weeks of
leave to care for family members who are military servicemembers
with a serious illness or injury.
