The U.S. Department of Labor issued two notices in July seeking feedback on its regulations implementing the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and other issues concerning paid leave.

On July 16, the DOL’s Women’s Bureau published a request for information to gather information on the effectiveness of current state- and employer-provided paid leave programs to determine how access or lack of access to paid leave programs impacts America's workers and their families.

According to the DOL website, considerations for this RFI are limited to the following circumstances:

• The birth of a child and need to care for the newborn child within one year following the birth;
• The placement, with the employee, of a child for adoption or foster care and the need to care for the newly placed child within one year following placement;
• To care for the employee’s spouse, child or parent who has a serious health condition; or
• A serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job.

The public can submit written comments regarding this RFI on or before Sept. 14, 2020.

On July 17, the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division published a request for information seeking feedback on specific challenges or best practices in the use or administration of FMLA leave, according to the DOL website. The DOL website also states that the RFI includes broad questions for comments that are related to the definition of serious health condition, the use of intermittent FMLA leave, employee notice when seeking FMLA leave and employer-required certification of an employee’s serious health condition to help frame responses.

In addition to the RFI, the WHD announced significant steps to streamline optional-use forms that workers can use to request and employers can use to coordinate leave under the FMLA.

The public can submit written comments on this RFI on or before Sept. 15, 2020.

Additional information on paid leave and the FMLA can be found on the DOL website.