The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) can be used by an employee to cover time necessary to travel to and from medical appointments, according to a recent opinion letter published by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Eligible employees can use FMLA leave to travel to appointments to diagnose, monitor, address, or treat their own, or a qualifying family member’s, serious health condition. In the specific situation the DOL was responding to, an employee received a medical certification requesting intermittent leave to attend medical appointments once per month for 45 minutes and subsequently indicated they needed an additional one hour to travel to and from the doctor’s office. The medical certification didn’t address the travel time.
The DOL began by making it clear that intermittent leave for medical appointments is covered by the FMLA. Turning to the issue of travel time for these appointments, the DOL decided FMLA will properly extend to that time because travel is a necessary part of being able to take the leave. The DOL also said the medical certification didn’t need to specifically address travel time for it to be covered, because traveling was required for medical care.
Tips: Surprisingly, this issue has never been addressed by the DOL, so it’s helpful to have clarity. The DOL also made it clear in the opinion letter that the FMLA’s protections only extend to travel time associated with the leave, not to unrelated activities (e.g. taking time to run errands while traveling to or from a medical appointment). If you ever have a situation where an employee is trying to take protected leave and you’re unsure whether it’s covered, be sure to work with your Vigilant Law Group employment attorney. For general information on the FMLA, start with our Legal Guide, At a Glance: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
