Marking the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a final rule implementing amendments to the FMLA which expanded military family leave provisions and incorporated special eligibility provisions for airline flight crewmembers and flight attendants. The new rule also clarifies other provisions of the FMLA including calculation of leave for intermittent or reduced schedules.
The new rule expands the military family leave provisions under the FMLA in several important ways. For example, employees may now take qualifying exigency leave to care for family members serving in the Regular Armed Forces in addition to the National Guard or Reserves. The rule also allows employees to take military caregiver leave to care for servicemembers with injuries or illnesses that existed prior to active duty and were aggravated in the line of duty. The DOL has posted explanatory information and guidance on its website: www.dol.gov/WHD/fmla/2013rule/.
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