MILITARY FAMILY LEAVE
By Sharon Hobbs

November 2009

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2010 signed by President Obama on October 28 expands the military family exigency and caregiver leave provisions under the Family Medical Leave Act.

The NDAA for fiscal year 2008 had added a leave entitlement of up to 12 weeks for the spouse, son, daughter, or parent of a national guard or reserve member on or about to be on active military duty for any “qualifying exigency” related to the call to “active duty”. The references to “active duty” have been changed to “covered active duty” and “active duty” has been defined to include deployment to a foreign country of a member of the regular or reserve armed forces.

The NDAA for fiscal year 2008 had also added caregiver leave entitlement of up to 26 weeks for the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a covered service member injured while on active duty to care for the injured service member.

The new Act expands the military caregiver leave to include family members of veterans for injuries or illnesses related to his/her duty which develop within five years after the active duty.

These provisions are effective immediately.

Employers subject to FMLA (generally employers with 50 or more employees) need to immediately revise their FMLA policies and begin allowing the more expansive leave.

Sharon Hobbs practices in the areas of business law, employment law and estate planning.

This article is a general discussion of legal issues and is not intended to be legal advice. We would be pleased to review the specific facts and law regarding any given legal matter.