New FMLA Opinion Letters on School Closures, Travel Time

Two new Department of Labor opinion letters address questions under the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA. The first letter addresses whether a school employee’s leave entitlement is affected when a school closes for less than a full week. The second letter addresses whether time used for traveling to or from covered medical appointments is part of an FMLA leave.

School Closures

When a school closes for less than a full week, perhaps due to inclement weather, how should school employee absences be counted against FMLA leave entitlement? The DOL found that when an employee is on approved FMLA leave for less than a full week, but the school closes for less than a week and the employee is not expected to work, the period of the closure cannot be counted against the employee’s leave entitlement. The DOL also said that the reasons for the closure, or whether it was planned or unplanned, will have no impact on these situations. The letter described the following situation:

• An eligible school employee needs FMLA leave each Tuesday afternoon for physical therapy. If the school is closed due to inclement weather that day and the employee is not required to report for work, the employer should not deduct time for that day from the employee’s FMLA entitlement.

However, when an employee uses leave for a full week and the school is closed for less than a full week, there is no modification and the employer can continue to deduct the full week of FMLA leave entitlement. Here’s an example from the letter:

• A school employee was on approved FMLA leave for Monday – Friday, but the school was closed on Tuesday due to inclement weather. The employee in this case would still use a full week of FMLA leave entitlement.

Travel Time

When an employee uses FMLA leave to attend medical appointments, does this include travel time to and from these appointments?

The DOL found that a fundamental part of care and continuing treatment from a provider may include traveling to and from that provider’s location. Therefore, eligible employees may take FMLA leave for both the covered appointment and the travel time. But the opinion letter clearly states that time spent traveling or stopping for unrelated activities would not be part of FMLA leave. Here’s an example from the letter:

• An eligible employee normally takes intermittent leave on Friday afternoon for two hours to attend physical therapy. One Friday, the employee requests leave for three hours, including time to visit the library and do grocery shopping after physical therapy. While the two hours needed for therapy are FMLA-protected, the time spent on unrelated activities (library and grocery shopping) would not be FMLA-protected.

The letter also confirms that medical certification doesn’t need to include travel time information for it to be considered complete and valid. The provider likely will not have these details.

Key Reminder

While the DOL's opinion letters do not have the full force and effect of law, courts typically defer to the agency's opinions of the laws it enforces, including the FMLA.

You can review the full letters on the DOL website. The Standard can help you manage FMLA leaves. Contact a representative near you for more information.