There are two types of Military Family Leave available:
- Qualifying exigency leave. Employees meeting the eligibility requirements described above may be entitled to use up to 12 weeks of their Basic FMLA Leave entitlement to address certain qualifying exigencies. Leave may be used if the employee’s spouse, son, or daughter, is on or is called to “covered active duty” in the Armed Forces (including the National Guard or Reserves) in a foreign country. To qualify for this leave, employees are required to submit certification of the qualifying exigency. Such certification must be submitted in the same manner as described above for medical certification. Qualifying exigencies may include:
- Short-notice deployment (up to 7 calendar days)
- Attending certain military events
- Arranging for alternative childcare
- School activities
- Addressing certain financial and legal arrangements
- Periods of rest and recuperation for the service member (up to 15 calendar days)
- Attending certain counseling sessions
- Parental care (of military member’s parent)
- Attending post-deployment activities (available for up to 90 days after the termination of the covered service member’s active duty status)
- Other activities arising out of the service member’s active duty or call to active duty and agreed upon by the College and the employee
- Leave to care for a covered service member. There is also a special leave entitlement that permits employees who meet the eligibility requirements for FMLA leave to take up to 26 weeks of leave during a single 12-month period to care for a spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin who is a covered service member. This leave can be taken intermittently. Leave not taken with the 12-month period is forfeited. Leave taken to care for a covered service member counts against an employee’s Basic FMLA Leave entitlement. A covered service member is: (1) a current member of the Armed Forces, including a member of the National Guard or Reserves, who is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy; or is in outpatient status; or is on the temporary disability retired list, for a serious injury or illness; (2) a covered veteran who is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy for a serious injury or illness.
To qualify for this leave, employees are required to submit medical certification of the serious injury or illness of the covered service member. This certification must be submitted in the same manner as medical certification under the College’s FMLA policy, except that: (1) the College will accept invitational travel orders (ITOs) or invitational travel authorizations (ITAs) issued to a family member to join an injured or ill servicemember at his or her bedside in place of a completed certification form; and (2) the College will accept as certification of the service member’s serious injury or illness documentation of his or her enrollment in the Department of Veterans Affairs Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers.
If an ITO or ITA is submitted, the employee is required to confirm the familial relationship to the service member. If documentation of enrollment in the Program of Comprehensive Assistance is submitted, the employee is required to confirm the familial relationship and to provide documentation of the veteran’s discharge date and status.
After the leave, the employee must be restored to the same or essentially same position held before the leave. Health care benefits will be maintained during the leave.