December 15, 2009
On October 28, 2009, President Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2010, Pub. L. 111-84. Among other things, the NDAA expands certain provisions of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). The FMLA was previously amended in January 2008 to provide military family leave for FMLA-eligible employees.
However, those amendments limited the leave that was available. The NDAA is intended to expand leave options for military families. The provisions of the NDAA regarding FMLA leave were effective as of the date of the President's signing, October 28, 2009.
Qualifying Exigency Leave
Previously, the FMLA permitted eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of leave during a 12-month period for a "qualifying exigency" arising from the employee's spouse's, child's or parent's active duty or call to active duty in the Reserves or National Guard in support of a military contingency operation. A qualifying exigency includes such activities as preparing for a short-notice deployment, arranging for child care, making financial or legal arrangements, and resting and recuperating.
Under the NDAA, qualifying exigency leave is now also available to eligible families of any member of the Armed Forces who is on "covered active duty," not just those in the Reserves or National Guard. For members of a regular component of the Armed Forces, covered active duty is defined as duty during deployment to a foreign country. For members of a reserve component, covered active duty is duty during deployment to a foreign country under a call or order to active duty.
Military Caregiver Leave
Under the FMLA, an eligible employee could take up to 26 weeks of leave to care for a qualifying relative (parent, spouse, child or relative to whom the employee is next of kin) who:
is a member of the regular or reserve Armed Forces and
is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy, is otherwise in outpatient status, or is otherwise on the temporary disability retired list, for a serious injury or illness.
The NDAA extends military caregiver leave to the families of veterans with serious injuries or illnesses as well as active members. The veteran must have been a member of the Armed Forces during the five years before the veteran receives the treatment, recuperation or therapy. It also expands the definition of serious injury or illness to include injuries or illnesses that existed before the servicemember's active duty and were aggravated by service in the line of duty on active duty, in addition to those that were incurred during active duty.
Recommendations for Employers
Employers subject to the FMLA should review their policies and procedures regarding military leave to ensure that they are in compliance with the new requirements as soon as possible, and make revisions as necessary. Employers should also communicate the changes to their employees and expect that more employees will be entitled to leave. The Department of Labor is expected to issue an updated FMLA notice to include the changes.
Please contact your A.E. Mourad Agency, Inc. representative with any questions.
A.E. Mourad Agency, Inc.
28277 Dequindre, Madison Heights, MI 48071
Phone: (248) 336-1600
Fax: (248) 336-1607
Web: www.aemourad.com