Military Family Leave for Employees
Posted in Employee Rights
Federal law on military family leaves
A recently created federal law called Defense Reauthorization Bill (DRB), signed by President Bush in January 2008, which adds two provisions to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The first provision is that covered employees may take up to 12 weeks of leave every year to deal with certain issues that relate to a family member's active duty or call to active duty. The other provision is that employees who are covered in this federal law may take up to 26 weeks of leave in a single year to take care for a family member who is seriously ill or injured in active military duty.
This means that if an employee's family member is called for active military duty, or is injured while under military duty, the employee can take time off from work so they can handle issues relating to the family member's service or take care for the injured family member.
The time period allowed to take such leaves is still 12 weeks total, not an additional 12 weeks for issues relating to the military service of a family member. However, the added provisions will take effect once the Department of Labor issues regulations that would define "any qualifying exigency." Nevertheless, the DOL encourages employers to provide this leave anyway.
Rules applied on Defense Reauthorization Bill
The regular rules on FMLA still apply on the DRB. For instance, the leave for active duty of a family member may be taken intermittently or on a reduced schedule. However, if the need for leave is foreseeable, employers may require a notice in advance. Employees can also substitute-or the employers can require them to substitute-applicable accrued paid leave during this type of FMLA leave. Meanwhile, the employers will be able to require a certification or documentation of the family member's active duty.
