Department of Labor Issues Long-Awaited Revised FMLA Regulations
On November 17, 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) published final revised regulations implementing the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (“FMLA”) and the amendments to the FMLA under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. The new regulations were printed in the Federal Register and span over 200 pages. The following link will take you to the regulations:
The new regulations take effect on January 16, 2009 and represent a substantial restructuring and revising of the existing regulations. Additionally, the revised regulations implement the recently enacted military family leave amendments to the FMLA. Employers will need to take action to keep their FMLA administration in compliance with the new regulations, such as revising existing FMLA policies to incorporate changes to non-military family FMLA leave, adding provisions to handle military family leave, modifying FMLA forms, and training supervisors and human resource personnel about the changes. If you have questions about what actions you need to take or to learn about training opportunities, please contact one of the attorneys in our employment law section.
The revised regulations change a number of the FMLA regulations, some more significantly than others, including provisions dealing with the employer and employee notice provisions (substantial overhaul), serious health condition (minor changes), medical certification requirements (major changes), handling of intermittent leave (minor changes), substitution of paid leave, perfect attendance and safety bonuses (they are back), and FMLA waivers.
The Dickinson, Mackaman, Tyler & Hagen, P.C. employment law section is preparing a summary of the revised regulations which will be posted on our website at www.dickinsonlaw.com.