Chapter 12: Family, Medical, and Military Leave: Recent Developments Under the FMLA and USERRA

April 2024

Co-Authored By: Michelle Brookfield

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was enacted by Congress in 1993 and has now developed over thirty years of regulations and extensive caselaw. As the Department of Labor (DOL) summarizes, the FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons with continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave. Eligible employees are entitled to twelve workweeks of leave in a twelve-month period for a variety of personal and family-related reasons, as discussed in this chapter, including:

• the birth of a child and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth;
• the placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care and to care for the newly placed child within one year of placement;
• to care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition;
• a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job;
• any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty.

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