On February 6, 2013, the US Department of Labor (DOL) issued its Final Rule implementing the 2010 Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) amendments. The new regulations, which take effect March 8, 2013, should not result in substantial changes to the way most employers administer military caregiver and exigency leaves, however employers should be aware that the
Final Rule does the following:
- adds parental care as a new category of exigency leave
- increases the time an employee may take for rest & recuperation exigency leave from 5 to 15 days
- extends military caregiver leave to family members of certain veterans with qualifying serious injuries or illnesses
- clarifies the scope of exigency leave to family members of those in the regular armed forces
- retains the physical impossibility rule
- clarifies DOL’s position concerning calculation of intermittent leave
In addition to implementing the new regulations, the DOL made minor changes updating its forms and issued a new medical certification for military caregiver leave for veterans.
Additional information and copies of the new forms are available on our website.
