Q: What types of military leaves are required under FMLA?A: There are two types of Military Family Leave related to a qualifying family member’s military service:
- Qualifying exigency – entitles an eligible employee to take leave when a son, daughter, spouse, or parent is on covered active duty or has been notified of an impending call
Military caregiver leave- allows an eligible employee who is the spouse, son, daughter, or next of kin of a covered servicemember with a serious injury to take leave to provide care for the service member.
Often employees with family members in the military feel that this leave should be awarded for any activity related to the servicemember, but this isn’t the case. The regulations for use of Military Family Leave are quite specific.
Here are a few points to remember:
- “Covered active duty” is defined as duty during the deployment of the service member to a foreign country. Military Family Leave is not allowed for service member relocation to another base within the U.S. It is also not intended for leave to attend servicemember graduation from boot camp or other similar ceremonies.
- Military Family Leave for qualifying exigency may be used for
o Issues arising from the servicemember’s short-notice deployment- To make or update financial or legal arrangements to address the servicemember’s absence
- To attend counseling services or make childcare arrangements related to the active-duty deployment
o To attend events related to the active-duty deployment - An employer may and should request a copy of the servicemember’s active duty orders to verify eligibility for leave.
- “Military caregiver leave” provides employee up to 26 workweeks of unpaid leave to care for a service member injured in the line of duty while on active duty.
If a service member falls and breaks a leg while walking across the base, this is not an injury sustained in the line of duty and thus does not qualify for military caregiver leave.
Written by a Catapult Advisor
