Labor and Employment Alert: Department of Labor Issues New Employer Guide to the Family and Medical Leave Act

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has just issued “The Employer’s Guide to the Family and Medical Leave Act.”  The DOL created this Guide because the DOL is “committed to strengthening compliance with the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) by providing assistance to employers and helping increase their knowledge of the law.”  To that end, the Guide provides essential information about the entire FMLA process, employers’ obligations, and employees’ responsibilities.

Over the course of 76 pages, the Guide’s seven chapters discuss what employers are covered under the FMLA and employers’ general notice requirements; what happens when an employee needs leave; qualifying reasons for leave; the certification process; military family leave; what happens during an employee’s FMLA leave; and the FMLA’s prohibitions.  The Guide includes hyperlinks to the DOL’s regulations and forms.  A copy of the Guide can be downloaded here: http://dol.gov/whd/fmla/employerguide.htm. 

In addition to the new Employer’s Guide, the DOL will soon issue a revised FMLA notice poster for employers (last issued in February 2013).  The DOL requires that employers prominently display the FMLA poster where employees and applicants can see it.  According to the DOL, this older poster is still accurate, but the new poster will have “a more easily readable format.”

Contact your Vorys lawyer if you have questions about the FMLA.