Court Rulings Spur FMLA Update
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced it will issue a proposed and then final regulation by the end of 2008 addressing key court decisions regarding the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
The pivotal decision was a 2002 Supreme Court ruling that invalidated a provision in the current regulation that said employers were to restart the FMLA clock of 12 weeks if formal family or medical leave designation was not given by the employer. At the time, this decision was viewed as a narrow victory for employers.
The announcement by DOL follows its February 2007 request for information from interested parties on the administrative issues of the Act. PIA, as part of the National Coalition to Protect Family Leave, was one of the organizations filing comments. Overall, more than 15,000 comments were submitted and this year’s rule-making process is expected to generate an equal or greater amount of interest from the private sector.
PIA and other employer groups have been strong supporters of clarifying the administrative issues related to FMLA and consider the Administration’s action a positive.