New Definition Of “Spouse” For Purposes of FMLA Starting Today
Starting today, an employee may take leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to care for a same-sex spouse with a serious health condition, regardless of whether the state they live in recognizes their marriage.
This final rule, announced by the Department of Labor in February, updates the FMLA regulatory definition of “spouse” to those who are legally married based on the laws of the “place of celebration,” not the laws of the state of residence.
Before the Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor, the Defense of Marriage Act restricted the definition of spouse to only those in opposite-sex marriages, for the purpose of federal law. Once Section 3 of DOMA was found unconstitutional, FMLA rights were extended to only those couples that lived in a state that recognized their marriage.
The Department of Labor notes that this new “place of celebration” rule “allows all legally married couples, whether opposite-sex or same-sex, or married under common law, to have consistent federal family leave rights regardless of where they live.”
This change will likely have little effect on employers in Minnesota, where same-sex marriage is already legally recognized. However, Minnesota does not currently recognize common law marriages, so any employees who entered into a common law marriage in a state that recognizes them will now be able to take FMLA leave for to care for his or her spouse, when they would not have had that protection before.
