Yes, FMLA leave includes travel time to appointments

The inquiry

An employer contacted the WHD, saying it had employees who needed planned intermittent or reduced-schedule FMLA leave to attend medical appointments related to their own serious health condition or the serious health condition of a qualifying family member.

The employees were to attend medical appointments at various locations, including those that were some distance from their homes or workplaces.

An employee, for example, requested intermittent leave to attend medical appointments for a serious health condition. The certification indicated that the appointments would occur once per month for 45 minutes. In addition, the employee said they needed one hour to travel to and from the doctor’s office. The medical certification didn’t address this travel time, and the employer wasn’t sure if they should count it as FMLA leave.

The answer

The WHD responded to the employer’s inquiry in the form of an opinion letter. It said that the law “makes clear that FMLA leave is appropriately used for time spent in medical appointments to diagnose, monitor, address, or treat an employee’s serious health condition. Part and parcel of obtaining care and continuing treatment from a medical provider may require the employee to travel to the provider’s location.”

As a result, when an employee travels to or from a medical appointment regarding a serious health condition, they may take FMLA leave not only for the actual appointment, but also for their travel time.

The FMLA doesn’t, however, protect misuse of that leave. Therefore, FMLA-protected leave for travel time for medical appointments doesn’t include stops for other unrelated activities. A quick trip to the grocery store, for example, on the way to or from a medical appointment isn’t FMLA leave and, therefore, isn’t protected under the law.

Certifications

Employers shouldn’t expect doctors to include travel time on FMLA certifications. Doctors won’t know how far an employee has to travel to get to and return from a needed appointment. Accordingly, a certification doesn’t have to include any information regarding travel time to be complete and valid.

Key to remember: Employers must include the time employees need to get to and return from medical appointments as FMLA leave.