OnWednesday, October 28, President Obama signed into law the Fiscal Year 2010 National DefenseAuthorization Act (HR 2647) that included an expansion of the exigencyand caregiver leave provisions under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) thatwere enacted earlier this year.
Exigencyleave under the FMLA provides up to 12 weeks of leave for urgent needs relatedto a reservist family member’s call to active service. HR2647 extends that coverage to include family members of active duty servicemembers.
Caregiverleave under the FMLA provides up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave to an employee tocare for a family member who is injured while serving on active militaryduty. HR 2647 extends that coverage to include veterans who are undergoingmedical treatment, recuperation or therapy for serious injury or illness thatoccurred any time during the five years preceding the date of treatment.
HR 2647also revised the definition of “serious injury or illness” for veterans and activeduty members to include an injury or illness that existed before the beginningof the member’s active duty and was aggravated by service in the line of dutyon active duty in the Armed Forces. Forveterans only, the new definition also adds that the injury or illness maymanifest itself before or after the member becomes a veteran.
Forassistance in updating your FMLA policies and procedures in light of this newexpansion, please call us today at (502) 753-0970.
Submitted by: Mitzi Fields Root, PHR, Senior Consultant, IntegrityHR, Inc.
