The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles eligible employees who work for covered employers to take up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for a “qualifying exigency” arising out of the foreign deployment of the employee’s spouse, child, or parent. FMLA leave for this purpose is called qualifying exigency leave. Qualifying exigency leave can be taken for the following reasons:
Eligible employees may also take leave to care for a military member’s parent who is incapable of self-care during the member’s covered active duty. This care includes arranging alternative care, providing immediate care, admitting or transferring the parent to a care facility, and attending meetings with staff at a care facility.
To request this leave, employees must submit an Extended Leave of Absence Request Form.
Fact Sheet #28M(c): Qualifying Exigency Leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act
The DOL Employee’s Guide to Military Family Leave under FMLA
The FMLA permits eligible employees to take up to 26 weeks of leave to care for a current service member during a single 12-month period. A covered service member includes a current member of the Armed Forces, National Guard, or Reserves, who has a serious injury or illness incurred in the line of duty on active duty, or an injury or illness aggravated by service in the Armed Forces. The service member must be undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, therapy, or be in outpatient status or on the temporary disability retired list.
To request this leave, employees must submit an Extended Leave of Absence Request Form.
A covered veteran’s serious injury or illness refers to an injury or illness incurred or aggravated by the member in the line of duty on active duty in the Armed Forces. It may have manifested before or after the member became a veteran and falls under one of the following categories:
To request this leave, employees must submit an Extended Leave of Absence Request Form.
Fact Sheet #28M(b): Military Caregiver Leave for a Veteran under the Family and Medical Leave Act