In February 2013, the U.S. DOL published the Final Rule implementing statutory changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). The final rule expanded the military family leave provisions, among other changes. The following chart was adapted from the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division website and shows a side-by-side comparison of the salient provisions of the current regulations:
Qualifying Exigency Leave (§ 825.126) |
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| 2008 Regulations | 2013 Regulations |
| An eligible employee may take FMLA leave for qualifying exigencies arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter or parent (the covered military member) is on active duty or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty in support of a contingency operation.
Eligible employees may take qualifying exigency leave for any of the (1) short notice deployment; (2) military events and related activities; (3) childcare and school activities; (4) financial and legal arrangements; (5) counseling; (6) rest and recuperation; (7) post-deployment activities; and (8) additional activities. Employees who request qualifying exigency leave to spend time with a military member on Rest and Recuperation leave may take up to five days of leave. |
“Covered military member” is now “military member” and includes both members of the National Guard and Reserves and the Regular Armed Forces.
“Active duty” is now “covered active duty” and requires deployment to a foreign country. A new qualifying exigency leave category for parental care leave is added. Eligible employees may take leave to care for a military member’s parent who is incapable of self-care when the care is necessitated by the member’s covered active duty. Such care may include arranging for alternative care, providing care on an immediate need basis, admitting or transferring the parent to a care facility, or attending meetings with staff at a care facility. The amount of time an eligible employee may take for Rest and Recuperation qualifying exigency leave is expanded to a maximum of 15 calendar days. |
Military Caregiver Leave (§ 825.127) |
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| 2008 Regulations | 2013 Regulations |
| An eligible employee who is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a covered servicemember (a current servicemember) of the Armed Forces, including National Guard and Reserve members, with a serious injury or illness incurred in the line of duty on active duty for which the servicemember is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy, is otherwise in outpatient status, or is otherwise on the temporary disability retired list, may take up to 26 work weeks of FMLA leave to care for the servicemember in a single 12-month period. | The definition of covered servicemember is expanded to include covered veterans who are undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy for a serious injury or illness.
A covered veteran is an individual who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable at any time during the five-year period prior to the first date the eligible employee takes FMLA leave to care for the covered veteran. The period between enactment of the FY 2010 NDAA on October 28, 2009 and the effective date of the 2013 Final Rule is excluded in the determination of the five-year period for covered veteran status. |
Serious Injury or Illness for a Current Servicemember (§ 825.127) |
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| 2008 Regulations | 2013 Regulations |
| A serious injury or illness means an injury or illness incurred by a covered servicemember in the line of duty on active duty that may render the servicemember medically unfit to perform the duties of his or her office, grade, rank, or rating. | The definition of a serious injury or illness for a current servicemember is expanded to included injuries or illnesses that existed before the beginning of the member’s active duty and were aggravated by service in the line of duty on active duty in the Armed Forces. |
Serious Injury or Illness for a Covered Veteran (§ 825.127) |
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| 2008 Regulations | 2013 Regulations |
| Not applicable. | A serious injury or illness for a covered veteran means an injury or illness that was incurred or aggravated by the member in the line of duty on active duty in the Armed Forces and manifested itself before or after the member became a veteran, and is:
(1) A continuation of a serious injury or illness that was incurred or aggravated when the covered veteran was a member of the Armed Forces and rendered the servicemember unable to perform the duties of the servicemember’s office, grade, rank, or rating; OR (2) A physical or mental condition for which the covered veteran has received a VA Service Related Disability Rating (VASRD) of 50 percent or greater and such VASRD rating is based, in whole or in part, on the condition precipitating the need for caregiver leave; OR (3) A physical or mental condition that substantially impairs the veteran’s ability to secure or follow a substantially painful occupation by reason of a disability or disabilities related to military service or would do so absent treatment; OR (4) An injury, including a psychological injury, on the basis of which the covered veteran has been enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers. |
Appendices |
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| 2008 Regulations | 2013 Regulations |
| The FMLA optional-use forms and Notice to Employees of Rights Under the FMLA (poster) are provided in the appendices to the regulations. | The FMLA optional-use forms and poster are removed from the regulations and no longer available in the appendices. They are now available on the Wage and Hour Division website, www.dol.gov/whd, as well as at local Wage and Hour district offices. |
If you are a covered employer under FMLA, have you done the following?
Displayed the new DOL FMLA Notice Poster, electronically or in hard copy?
- Updated your FMLA policy, which must be in your
employee handbook or distributed to each employee? - Started using the new FMLA forms, such as the
Notice of Eligibility, Designation Notice, and various Certification forms?
