Leave Provisions for Military Families

Military Caregiver Leave 
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) provided a new leave entitlement of up to 26 weeks to care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness. An eligible employee who is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a covered service member, who is recovering from a serious illness or injury sustained in the line of duty, is entitled to up to 26 weeks of leave in a single 12-month period to care for the service member.

Definition of Covered Service Member 
A covered service member is a member of the Armed Forces (including a member of the The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides two military-family leave entitlements for eligible employees of covered employers:

• Military caregiver leave, which provides up to 26 workweeks of leave during a single 12-month period to care for a covered servicemember or covered veteran with a serious injury or illness.
• Qualifying exigency leave, which provides up to 12 workweeks of leave during the applicable 12-month period for certain needs arising from a qualifying family member’s covered active-duty deployment.

Military Caregiver Leave
An eligible employee may take up to 26 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected FMLA leave during a single 12-month period to care for a covered servicemember or covered veteran with a serious injury or illness.

Military caregiver leave may be taken by the servicemember’s or veteran’s:

• Spouse.
• Son or daughter.
• Parent.
• Next of kin.

“Next of kin” generally means the covered servicemember’s nearest blood relative other than a spouse, parent, son, or daughter. A servicemember or veteran may designate another blood relative as next of kin for FMLA military caregiver leave purposes. During the single 12-month period in which military caregiver leave is used, an employee may take no more than a combined total of 26 workweeks of all FMLA leave. For example, if an employee uses 10 weeks of regular FMLA leave during that single 12-month period, the employee generally has up to 16 weeks of military caregiver leave remaining.

Covered servicemember
A covered servicemember is a current member of the Armed Forces, including the National Guard or Reserves, who is:

• Undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy for a serious injury or illness.
• Otherwise in outpatient status.
• On the temporary disability retired list.

The serious injury or illness must have been incurred in the line of duty while on active duty, or must be a preexisting injury or illness that was aggravated in the line of duty while on active duty.

Covered veteran
A covered veteran is a former member of the Armed Forces, including the National Guard or Reserves, who:

• Was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable.
• Was discharged or released within the five years before the employee first begins military caregiver leave.
• Is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy for a qualifying serious injury or illness.

A qualifying serious injury or illness may include an injury or illness incurred in the line of duty while on active duty or a preexisting condition that was aggravated by service in the line of duty while on active duty.

Qualifying Exigency Leave
An eligible employee may take up to 12 workweeks of FMLA leave during the applicable 12-month period for a qualifying exigency arising from the covered active duty or call to covered active duty of the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent. For qualifying-exigency leave, a son or daughter may be any age. For a member of the Regular Armed Forces, covered active duty generally means deployment to a foreign country. For a member of the National Guard or Reserves, covered active duty generally means deployment to a foreign country under a federal call or order to active duty in support of a contingency operation.

Qualifying exigencies
Qualifying exigencies include:

• Short-notice deployment: Addressing issues arising when the service member receives notice of deployment seven or fewer calendar days before deployment. Leave may be used for up to seven calendar days beginning on the date the service member receives notice.
• Military events and related activities: Attending official ceremonies, programs, events, family-support programs, or informational briefings related to the covered active-duty deployment.
• Child-care and school activities: Arranging alternative child care, providing urgent or immediate child care, enrolling or transferring a child to a new school or child-care facility, or attending certain school or child-care meetings when necessary because of the deployment.
• Financial and legal arrangements: Making or updating financial or legal arrangements to address the service member’s absence or acting as the service member’s representative before a governmental agency.
• Counseling: Attending counseling for the employee, the military member, or the military member’s child when the counseling need arises from the deployment. Counseling does not have to be provided by a health-care provider.
• Rest and recuperation: Spending time with a military member who is on short-term, temporary rest-and-recuperation leave during deployment. An employee may take up to 15 calendar days of leave for each rest-and-recuperation period.
• Post-deployment activities: Attending arrival ceremonies, reintegration briefings, and other official military programs for up to 90 days after the service member’s covered active duty ends; or addressing issues arising from the death of the military member.
• Parental care: Providing care for the military member’s parent when the parent is incapable of self-care and the military member’s active-duty deployment creates a need for care.
• Additional activities: Other events that the city and employee agree are qualifying exigencies.

Certification and administration
A city may require appropriate certification for military caregiver leave or qualifying-exigency leave. Employees should provide requested documentation promptly so the city can determine eligibility and designate leave correctly. Cities should use current U.S. Department of Labor forms or equivalent forms, including:

• Form WH-384 for qualifying-exigency leave.
• Form WH-385 for military caregiver leave involving a current servicemember.
• Form WH-385-V for military caregiver leave involving a covered veteran.

Military-family leave requests should be referred promptly to HR or the city’s designated FMLA administrator. These requests may involve special relationship rules, military orders, medical certifications, leave calculations, and a separate single 12-month period for military caregiver leave.