New regulations for the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a final version of its new rules promulgated under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The new rules went into effect on March 8, 2013. The final version—

• Expanded qualifying exigency leave.
• Expanded the definition of serious injury or illness.
• Increased the time an eligible family member may take for qualifying exigency leave.
• Created a new qualifying exigency leave category for parental care.
• Added new leave calculations for airline flight crews.
• Moved the location of definitions under the regulation from Section 825.800 to 825.102.
• Clarified the rules for calculation of intermittent or reduced-schedule FMLA leave.

The FMLA optional forms have been updated to reflect these changes. Your organization will need to post the new FMLA poster.

Download a copy of the announcement from the Federal Register. The text of the new rules begin on page 8903.