Employment Law Report

Written by:  Mitzi D. Wyrick

The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published streamlined forms for employers and employees to use in requesting leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).  The DOL has attempted to make the new forms easier for employers and employees to understand and use.  For example, more options are available that call for simply checking a box and the forms have been modified to permit electronic signatures. 

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The updates are designed to reduce the time necessary to fill out the forms, improve communication between employers and employees, and reduce errors.  Links to the updated forms are available below:

Certification of Healthcare Provider for a Serious Health Condition

• Employee’s serious health condition, form WH-380-E– use when a leave request is due to the medical condition of the employee.
• Family member’s serious health condition, form WH-380-F– use when a leave request is due to the medical condition of the employee’s family member.

 Certification of Military Family Leave

• Qualifying Exigency, form WH-384– use when the leave request arises out of the foreign deployment of the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent.
• Military Caregiver Leave of a Current Service member, form WH-385– use when requesting leave to care for a family member who is a current service member with a serious injury or illness.
• Military Caregiver Leave of a Veteran, form WH-385-V– use when requesting leave to care for a family member who is a covered veteran with a serious injury or illness.

If an employee has provided information using the older forms, employers may not require them to provide the information again on the new forms.

 

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