New regulations governing Family Medical Leave Act

Effective this month, January 2009, new regulations enacted last fall become effective, defining some of the parameters of the Family Medical Leave Act.  Since the regulations were adopted at the end of the Bush Administration, you can count on the fact that they do not favor employees.  Most of the changes are procedural and many deal with definitions.   They are available on line at www.dol.gov/esa/whd/fmla.

  The most talked-about provision appears to be the requirement that the employee follow the employer's normal call-in procedures for employee absences.  Other key elements of the 600+ pages of regulations deal with light duty, intermittent or reduced leave, and leave for military families.