HOW DO THE NEW FMLA PROVISIONS AFFECT LOCAL AGENCIES?
On January 28, 2008, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA; H.R. 4986) went into effect and expanded the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA; 29 U.S.C. 2600 et seq.). Accordingly, local agencies should review and update their leave policies to incorporate these new FMLA provisions, as well as provide training to supervisors and management to ensure compliance with the new law. The FLMA now allows eligible employees to take two military service related leaves: 1. Up to 12 weeks to attend to a qualifying exigency involving an employees spouse, child, or parent who is on active military duty or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty in support of a contingency operation; and 2. Up to 26 weeks to care for a spouse, child, parent, or next of kin servicemember who incurs a serious injury or illness while on active military duty. Agencies should be aware that these new FMLA provisions raise some uncertainties. Specifically, the new law does not define qua
