new FMLA military leave provisions

Congress has passed an expansion of the FMLA's military leave provisions as part of this year's National Defense Authorization Act. The legislation has been sent to President Obama, and he is expected to sign it.

The major changes being made include:

1) Expanding military caregiver leave to cover pre-existing conditions that were aggravated during military service.
2) Allowing employees to take military caregiver leave to care for *former members* of the military if their injury or illness was incurred or aggravated during military service. This type of leave is available for up to five years after the family member leaves the military. Currently, leave is available only to care for current members of the military.
3) Allowing employees to take qualifying exigency leave when they have a family member deployed to a foreign country as a member of the regular armed forces (currently, qualifying exigency leave applies only to members of the National Guard or military reserves).

Once the president has signed the legislation, it will be effective immediately.

Julie Athey
Author, FMLA Compliance: Practical Solutions for HR

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