Spouses, parents, and children of members of the armed services would be able to take family and medical leave to attend military gatherings or handle childcare or finances without fear of losing their jobs, under a proposal put forth today by First Lady Michele Obama.
Obama is proposing amendments to the Family and Medical Leave Act to also extend military caregiver leave to family members of veterans for up to five years after leaving the military. As of now, only care for currently serving members is covered.
The proposal would also expand the military family leave provisions of the FMLA by extending qualifying exigency leave to employees whose family members serve in the regular armed forces–as opposed to only families of National Guard members and reservists as the law now provides.
The proposed FMLA expansion would include as much as 12 weeks of leave from work to help a military member deployed on short notice, as well as long as 26 weeks of leave to care for an injured or ill service member.
By: Joe Lustig
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