On April 25th, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage & Hour Division (DOL) announced that it will soon issue a new general Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Notice that employers may post in the workplace, and also revealed a new guide designed to help employers better navigate and administer the FMLA.
As always, the new FMLA notice must be posted “prominently where it can be readily seen by employees and applicants for employment.” According to the DOL, the new poster will not contain a host of new information. Rather, the DOL has largely just reorganized the existing notice so that it’s more reader friendly. Importantly, employers may choose to use either the current or the new version of the notice. That means employers will not be required to swap out their existing posters with the new version. Once published, the new notice will be available on the DOL’s website.
In 2012, the DOL issued a guide to employees to help them navigate their rights under the FMLA. Now the DOL has issued a companion guide for employers. According to the DOL, the new employer guide is designed to “provide essential information about the FMLA, including information about employers’ obligations under the law and the options available to employers in administering leave under the FMLA.”
The contents of the new guide include, among other things (1) an orderly discussion of the typical FMLA procedures; (2) flowcharts describing the typical FMLA process; (3) a “Did you know” section that addresses some little known facets of the FMLA; and (4) an overview of the sometimes confusing FMLA military leave provisions.
The new FMLA employer guide may be found in its entirety on the DOL’s website.