I am pleased to inform you that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has issued final regulations to implement section 565(b)(1) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (Public Law 111-84, October 28, 2009). The final regulations amend the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) regulations to provide eligible Federal employees up to 12 administrative workweeks of unpaid leave under the FMLA for qualifying exigency purposes. The regulations are available at http://www.opm.gov/fedregis.

Qualifying exigencies arise when the spouse, son, daughter, or parent of an employee is on covered active duty in the Armed Forces, or has been notified of an impending call or order to covered active duty status. These regulations will help employees manage family affairs when their family members are on covered active duty.

The regulations provide for eight categories of qualifying exigencies: short-notice deployments, military events and related activities, childcare and school activities, financial and legal arrangements, counseling, rest and recuperation, post-deployment activities, and additional activities not encompassed in the other categories when the agency and employee agree they qualify as exigencies and agree to the timing and duration of the leave.

Additional Information

For further information, you may contact your agency’s assigned OPM Human Capital Officer. Employees should contact their agency’s human resources offices for assistance.