New FMLA Regs

BarbieW

I've been keeping up with the new military family leave rules, but I hear DOL is proposing other regulatory changes. Anyone know if they are going to deal with the intermittent leave problems?

TXHRGuy

I just read an article about that this morning.  The proposed changes are in the OMB review process.  Until they are published in the federal register, we won't know what they are unless someone has a better resource than mine.  Someone at DOL suggested that employers may be somewhat disappointed.  The OMB review process can take up to 90 days, and may result in a revise/resubmit cycle with DOL.  Alternatively, they could have the regs turned around and printed in the federal register by mid February.  Once published, there's a 60-90 day comment period (that will probably have zero effect on what DOL does).

IT HR

The only thing I have heard is that the DOL is supposedly going to propose revisions that would restrict an employee's ability to request FMLA leave after-the-fact. 

TXHRGuy

If they couple that with requiring the employee to actually request FMLA leave, that would fix a lot of problems.

IT HR

I just read another article on SHRM's website that says some of the proposed changes would be modest changes to include things like medical certification for leave requests, waivers and notification of FMLA rights and guidelines for when approved leave begins.

Unfortunately I think that whatever is done is really not going to solve all our problems with FMLA.  It may help a few, but then cause more issues to pop up. 

 

Joy1

FMLA also now covers leave for employees with family members who are in the military service or called to active duty and have a "qualifying exigency" (which hasn't been defined yet -- again waiting on those regulations). FMLA was also recently changed to give leave to employees with a close family member who is injured or ill as a result of military service (26 weeks of leave). Without regulations to explain the ins and outs of the new FMLA provisions, it is going to be confusing for a while.

NYGiants

DOL has said that the new FMLA provision giving 26 weeks of leave to care for an injured or ill service memeber who is also a member of an employee's family is effective immediately. The 12 weeks of leave for a qualifying exigency" is not effective until DOL defines what a "qualifying exigency"is. The DOL did "encourage" employers to give the leave now in any event.

IT HR

I just read that the Dept of Labor is supposed to release the new proposed rules for FMLA today, February 11th. 

dhall111

Here's a link to the notice of proposed rules:

 

http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/fmla/FedRegNPRM.pdf

 

TXHRGuy

If someone finds a reputable summary of the changes somewhere, please post the link here!  I've read about half of it so far.

BarbieW

This one from Jackson Lewis is good-- http://www.jacksonlewis.com/legalupdates/article.cfm?aid=1291

 

 

pammcconnell

SHRM published a summary of the FMLA changes and will be hosting a webcast to dicuss.  I thought some of you might be interested in reading more.  

Summary and Webcast of Proposed FMLA Changes Available

On February 11, 2008, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) covering a variety of issues regarding implementation of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The NPRM encompasses various issues raised in court cases interpreting the FMLA, as well as extensive stakeholder comments, including information provided by SHRM, that the DOL has gathered in the past several years. In addition, the NPRM addresses implementation of the recently enacted military leave laws.
 
SHRM is offering two ways to learn more about the contents of the proposed rule:
 
1. Read a summary of the NPRM that focuses on issues identified by SHRM members as key to FMLA implementation; AND
 
2. View SHRM's February 21 webcast on the proposed changes. Assistant Secretary of Labor Victoria Lipnic will outline the process that led to this regulatory action, highlight key changes to the regulation and answer questions from the audience.