Update Applicable to:

All employers who are covered employers under the federal FMLA law

What happened?

On Tuesday, May 30, 2023, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) published opinion letter FMLA2023-2-A, “Whether Holidays Count Against an Employee’s FMLA Leave Entitlement and Determination of the Amount of Leave Taken”.

What are the details?

In this letter, WHD explains that, under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the employee’s normal workweek is the basis of the employee’s leave entitlement. If a holiday occurs during an employee’s workweek, and the employee works for part of the week and uses FMLA leave for part of the week, the holiday does not reduce the amount of the employee’s FMLA leave entitlement unless the employee was required to report for work on the holiday. Therefore, if the employee was not expected or scheduled to work on the holiday, the fraction of the workweek of leave used would be the amount of FMLA leave taken (which would not include the holiday) divided by the total workweek (which would include the holiday).

For more information, please see the links below:

DOL Opinion Letter (FMLA 2023-2-A)

Law Firm Article

DOL Opinion Letter Search Page

What do employers need to do?

Employers should review the above opinion letter and work with their HR department or employment attorney to ensure compliance and update any existing policies and procedures.

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