FMLA Leave for Military Families
The Family and Medical Leave Act provides
two leave entitlements that benefit military families: qualifying
exigency leave and military caregiver leave.
Qualifying Exigency Leave
Eligible employees who are the spouse,
son, daughter, or parent of a covered servicemember may take up to 12
weeks of FMLA leave during any 12-month period to address the most
common issues that arise when the military member is deployed to a
foreign country. This provision applies to the families of members of
both the active duty and reserve components of the Armed Forces.
Qualifying exigencies include:
Issues arising from a covered military member’s short notice deployment (i.e., deployment on seven or less days of notice) for a period of seven days from the date of notification;
Military events and related activities,
such as official ceremonies, programs, or events sponsored by the
military or family support or assistance programs and informational
briefings sponsored or promoted by the military, military service
organizations, or the American Red Cross that are related to the active
duty or call to active duty status of the covered military member;