With
the increase of servicemen and women being called to active duty or coming home
from active duty injured, we have received several questions about military
caregiver leave and have included some of the most often asked questions below:
Q: May
an employee take back-to-back military caregiver leave for more than one
seriously injured or ill service member?
A: Yes.
By regulation, military caregiver leave is a "per-service member, pre-injury"
entitlement. Accordingly, an eligible employee may take 26 workweeks of leave
to care for one covered service member in a "single 12-month period," and then
take another 26 workweeks of leave in a different "single 12-month period" to
care for another covered service member. (conceivably, those two leaves could
be essentially back to back.)
Q: Can
an employee take leave to care for two seriously injured or ill service members
at the same time?
A: Yes.
However, an eligible employee may not take more than 26 workweeks of leave
during each "single 12-month period."
Q: Can
an employee take additional military caregiver leave if a covered service member
receives a serious injury or illness and then, at a later time, manifests a
second serious injury or illness?
A: Yes.
Again, the leave is a "per service member, per injury" entitlement. If a
covered servicemember incurs a serious injury or illness and manifests a
second serious injury or illness at a later time. An eligible employee would be
entitled to an additional 26-workweek entitlement to care for the covered
servicemember in a separate "single 12-month period."
For example, an eligible employee may take military caregiver
leave to care for a covered service member who has suffered a limb amputation
in the line of duty on active duty. If that same service member manifests a
brain injury a year later arising from the same incident, the employee would be
eligible to take another 26 workweeks of military caregiver leave at that time.
However, the covered servicemember must still be a member of
the Armed Forces, or the National Guard or Reserves, including those on the
temporary disability retired list. The second serious injury or illness must
have been incurred in the line of duty on active duty.
Q: Can
an employee takes military caregiver leave to care for a service member who is
no longer serving in the military? What about for a retired member of the
military?
A: No.
Former members, including retired members, of the Regular Armed Forces, the
National Guard, or the Reserves are not considered "covered servicemembers"
under the military caregiver leave provision. Military caregiver leave does
cover seriously ill or injured service members on the temporary disability
retired list; however, service members on the permanent disability retired list
are not covered.