The U.S. Senate Oct. 22 passed a bill that will extend benefits contained in the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to include family members of injured reservists in addition to active duty service members.
The Department of Defense Authorization Conference Report (H.R. 2647) extended six months of unpaid leave to family members of reservists as well as service members who were injured while on duty. This updates a final rule issued in November 2008 that revised the FMLA to require employers to provide information to employees about FMLA and to require that employees use the usual and customary call-in procedure when reporting an absence.
H.R. 2647 passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in June and is waiting to be signed by President Obama. For more information, contact Kristen Swearingen at ABC,
swearingen@abc.org.