Share
The U.S. Department of Labor today announced changes to the regulations that define a “spouse” for purposes of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. The changes fully implement the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Windsor, which struck down the Defense of Marriage Act. That statute had defined the terms “marriage” and “spouse,” as used in federal law, to refer only to opposite-sex marriages.
Immediately after the Windsor decision, the Department of Labor announced that henceforth, employers would be required to grant FMLA leave to an employee to care for his or her same-sex spouse if the employee resides in a state that recognizes same-sex marriages.
Now the Department has gone a step further, and revised its rules to provide that an employee is entitled to FMLA leave to care for a same-sex spouse regardless of the law of the employee’s state of residence, provided that the marriage was legal in the place where it was entered into. Similarly, the child of the same-sex spouse will be recognized as the employee’s step-child for FMLA purposes.
A fact sheet on the new regulation can be found here. It will be published in the Federal Register on February 25, 2015, and will be effective on March 27.
This blog/web site presents general information only. The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice, and you should not consider or rely on it as such. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation. This website is not an offer to represent you. You should not act, or refrain from acting, based upon any information at this website. Neither our presentation of such information nor your receipt of it creates nor will create an attorney-client relationship with any reader of this blog. Any links from another site to the blog are beyond the control of Pullman & Comley, LLC and do not convey their approval, support or any relationship to any site or organization. Any description of a result obtained for a client in the past is not intended to be, and is not, a guarantee or promise the firm can or will achieve a similar outcome.
About Our Labor, Employment and Employee Benefits Law Blog
Alerts, commentary, and insights from the attorneys of Pullman & Comley’s Labor, Employment Law and Employee Benefits practice on such workplace topics as labor and employment law, counseling and training, litigation, union issues, as well as employee benefits and ERISA matters.