The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which became law in 1993, requires employers to provide eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to care for oneself or a family member with a serious medical condition. The definitions of family member and serious medical condition are outlined in the law.

Now, the U.S. Department of Labor has released revised regulations to clarify the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees, and the new regulations have expanded to provide coverage for military family members. While Cornell's personal leave policies are often more generous than the new FMLA revisions, two FMLA entitlements related to the military are new for Cornell employees: a qualifying military exigency leave and a military caregiver leave.

Qualifying Exigency Leave applies to eligible employees who have a covered family member [child, parent or spouse] serving in the National Guard or the Reserves. This leave allows employees to take up to 12 weeks of FMLA job-protected leave for any qualifying exigency that arises while the employee's covered family member is on active duty or has been called to active duty in support of a contingency operation. The federal government has defined qualifying exigencies as short-notice deployments; military events; urgent child-care or school activities that arise due to circumstances related to the active duty; as well as time to make financial or legal arrangements, attend counseling, spend up to five days of leave with a covered military member who is on short-term leave, and attend postdeployment activities.

Military Caregiver Leave provides eligible employees who are family members of covered service members with up to 26 weeks of leave in a 12-month period to care for a service member who has a serious injury or illness sustained while in active military service. This military caregiver leave is more generous than the 12 weeks of leave provided under all other FMLA leaves, and it also has a broader definition of family than the son, daughter, parent or spouse definitions contained in the other FMLA leave provisions.

In addition to the new military leave provisions, the federal government has revised its regulations pertaining to all types of FMLA leaves. Cornell's Medical Leaves Administration and other Division of Human Resource professionals are reviewing the ramifications of these changes for the Cornell policies on medical leaves, including the Short-Term Disability, Workers Compensation, Personal Medical Leave, Parental Leave and Family Health Leave policies. In the meantime, staff members in Medical Leaves Administration are prepared to administer requests for leaves covered by the FMLA in accordance with the new federal laws and can answer any questions. To contact Medical Leaves Administration: 607-216-1428 or e-mail bb30@cornell.edu.

Patti Bennett Riddle is the manager of Cornell's Medical Leaves Administration.