DOL Issues New FMLA Poster and Publishes Guide to Help Employers Administer FMLA

In late April, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it soon will issue a new general FMLA Notice that can be used interchangeably with their current FMLA posting.  In issuing this new directive, they also unveiled a new guide to help employers navigate and administer the FMLA.

Here’s the scoop:

New DOL Poster

Under the FMLA, an FMLA-covered employer must post a copy of the General FMLA Notice in each location where it has any employees (even if there are no FMLA-eligible employees at that location). According to the FMLA rules, the notice must be posted “prominently where it can be readily seen by employees and applicants for employment.”

The DOL has announced that it will release a new General FMLA Notice for employers to post in their workplaces.  According to the DOL, the new poster won’t necessarily include a whole bunch of new information.  Rather, the information in the notice will be reorganized so that it’s more reader friendly.

The DOL’s Branch Chief for FMLA, Helen Applewhaite, confirmed that employers would be allowed to post either the current poster or the new version.  In other words, employers will not be required to change the current poster. 

New Employer FMLA Guide

In 2012, the DOL issued a guide to employees to help them navigate their rights under the FMLA. Several years later, DOL now has issued a companion guide for employers.  According to the DOL, the Employer’s Guide to the Family and Medical Leave Act (pdf) 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 new guide was unveiled by the DOL at an annual FMLA/ADA Compliance conference sponsored by the Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC). Generally speaking, the new guide covers FMLA administration from beginning to end, and it follows a typical leave process — from leave request through medical certification and return to work.

While the guide helps explain the FMLA regulations in a user-friendly manner, the guide primarily is meant to answer common questions about the FMLA, so it leaves unanswered leave issues that continue to frustrate employers in their administration of the FMLA.  However, the guide is likely to have some benefit to employers when administering the FMLA.  For instance, the guide:

1. Follows the FMLA regulations and the course of a typical leave request in a relative orderly manner.
2. Contains easy to follow flowcharts so that employers can better understand the typical FMLA process, including a “Road Map to the FMLA” that provides an overview of the FMLA process.  
3. Includes “Did You Know?” sections to give employers a heads-up on some of the lesser-known provisions and nuances of the FMLA regulations.
4. Highlights user-friendly charts and explanation of the medical certification process, including what information is required in certifications.
5. Provides a helpful overview of military family leave, which often can be a bit overwhelming to employers attempting to navigate this portion of the FMLA.