On February 11th, the United States Department of Labor announced its proposed changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) – changes that have been in the works for quite some time. For those unfamiliar with the act, it was brought about in 1993 and permits workers to take unpaid leave for serious health-related reasons. This includes taking care of sick family members or being physically unable to perform your job. Wolters Kluwer law firm does a good job of breaking down the new key provisions.

The proposed regulations would amend key provisions of the FMLA rules, including:

-employer and employee notice requirements;

-nonconsecutive periods of service in determining “eligible employee”;

-the “two-visit” treatment requirement in the definition of “continuing treatment”;

-fitness-for-duty certification and recertification;

-HIPAA privacy requirements and contact with healthcare providers;

-substitution of paid leave;

-joint employers and the 50-employees-within-75-miles requirement;

-and, to address employer challenges in administering intermittent leave, an added provision allowing employers to contact healthcare providers to discern whether an employee’s absence patterns are consistent with the employee’s qualifying medical condition.

These new proposals are an attempt to “restore balance to the FMLA,” according to Marc Freedman, director of labor law policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington. A big complaint that employer’s have about the current FMLA is that employees can take up to two business days to announce that their leave of absence is FMLA related. Obviously, this makes it difficult for employers to schedule their business.

Workforce management posted a thorough analysis of the new changes here.