Monday, February 18, 2008

Wage and Hour Division Publishes Proposed Rules on FMLA

On February 11, 2008, the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Interested parties are encouraged to submit comments by 12:00 midnight, April 11, 2008. The Federal Register Notice, instructions for submitting comments and related documents are available at Wage and Hour's FMLA Notice of Proposed Rulemaking website. The Department is also seeking final comment on proposed regulations involving military leave.

Among other issues, these proposed regulations address the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Ragsdale v. Wolverine Worldwide, Inc., 535 U.S. 81 (2002), in which the Court ruled that the penalty provision in the regulations which states that if an employee takes leave and the employer does not designate the leave as FMLA leave, the leave taken does not count towards the 12 week FMLA leave. The Court found that any categorical penalty for a violation of the statute would exceed the Department's statutory authority.

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