For those employers covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (50 employees within a 75 mile radius), be on the lookout for changes to the 7 optional-use FMLA forms published by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. On August 5, the DOL published a notice announcing a 60-day public comment period on the proposed revisions.
The notice states that the goal in revising the forms is to increase compliance with the FMLA, improve customer service, and reduce the burden on the public by making the forms easier to understand and use. The forms were drafted with input from the public and include:
• Fewer questions requiring written responses; replaced by statements that can be verified by simply checking a box
• Reorganization of medical certification forms to more quickly determine if a medical condition is a serious health condition as defined by the FMLA
• Clarifications to reduce the demand on health care providers for follow-up information
• More information on the notification forms to better communicate specific information about leave conditions to employees
• Changes to the qualifying exigency certification form to provide clarity to employees about what information is required
• Changes to the military caregiver leave forms to improve consistency and ease of use
• Layout and style changes to reduce blank space and improve readability
The notice can be found at https://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/forms2019.htm, and contains links to the proposed changes in each form.
