On December 21, 2009, President Obama signed S 1422, the Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act. This new law amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) with respect to the hours-of-service requirement airline flight crews must meet to be eligible for FMLA leave.
A flight attendant or flight crewmember will be considered to meet the requirement if he or she has worked or been paid for:
- At least 60% of the applicable total monthly guarantee, or the equivalent for the previous 12-month period for or by the employer; and
- A minimum of 504 hours, not counting personal commute time or time spent on vacation leave or medical or sick leave.
The term “applicable monthly guarantee” means
- for an employee other than an employee on reserve status, the minimum number of hours for which an employer has agreed to schedule the employee for any given month; and
- for an employee who is on reserve status, the number of hours for which an employer has agreed to pay the employee for any given month,
The Secretary of Labor is authorized to issue regulations to provide a method for calculated leave for airline flight crews.
