The FMLA has been amended for the first time in its 15-year history. On January 28, 2008, President Bush signed a military reauthorization bill that included two new FMLA provisions:

• Employees with a family member who is called to active duty may take FMLA leave for "any qualifying exigency" arising out of the family member's military service.
• Employees may take up to 26 weeks off to care for a family member who suffers a serious injury or illness while on military duty; this is a one-time only right.

For more information on these new provisions, including when they go into effect and what you should be doing right now, see Family and Medical Leave for Military Family Members.

There may be even more changes coming soon: The Department of Labor has, at long last, prepared interim FMLA regulations that address a few hotly contested issues, such as medical certifications and notice requirements. These regulations have not been made public yet. The regulations have been sent to the Office of Management and Budget, which has up to 90 days to review them before they are published in the Federal Register. Once the regulations are published, there will be a public comment period. After the DOL has read the comments and decided whether to change the interim regulations in response, it will publish final, binding regulations.