Time Off to Care for Vets

By: Antoinette Oliver, Esquire aco@muslaw.com

When President Bush signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) early this year, it marked the first ever expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

NDAA says that employees who need time off to care for a recovering service member are eligible for up to 26 weeks within a single 12-month period, more than twice as long as the standard 12 weeks of FMLA leave.

The new law defines recovering service member as a member of the armed forces who falls ill or is injured during active duty, and as a result is unable perform his or her duties. To qualify for leave, the employee must be the spouse, parent, child or nearest blood relative of the injured service member.

An employee also can get leave because of “any qualifying exigency” that arises out of a family member’s service in the Armed Forces or because a family member is called to duty. A family member under this provision is limited to spouse, parent or child. Employees who take leave for this “qualifying exigency” reason will be entitled to 12 weeks of FMLA leave. The Department of Labor has not yet announced regulations defining “qualifying exigency”, but employers must act in good faith to comply with the provision until the regulations are released.

The amendments are effective immediately, so employers should update their handbooks and company procedures to comply.