Hi, I'm new to the site. My husband is in the Air Force Reserves, but he is on active duty orders. He will be returning home within the next couple of months and I am unsure if the FMLA clauses that were added by Bush would make me elegible to take time off for post-deployment activities. I have been with my employer for 3 months, and I know for a fact that to qualify for normal FMLA (i.e., maternity leave, etc) I do have to be employed for at least 12 months. Can anyone tell me if I would still be eligible to take time off of work under the new FMLA provisions?
My interpretation of the FMLA provisions would allow you to take time of for exigency purposes on his return if you have been employed by the same employer for the last 12 months, have worked at least 1250 hours in that 12-month period and the employer has at least 50 employees in a 75-mile radius. A quick FAQ sheet is on the DOL website. From what you have said then you probably won't qualify.
All the information you could possibly want on FMLA can be found on the DOL website.
Assuming you won't have any accrued vacation by time he returns, your best bet is to just ask your employer for unpaid time to go to his arrival and spend a couple of days with him. Today's employers are more likely to grant the time off then they did 30 years ago.
