{
    "schema": "amendsignal.record/1",
    "generated_on": "2026-11-04",
    "publisher": {
        "name": "AmendSignal",
        "url": "https://amendsignal.com/"
    },
    "notice": "Coverage is limited, so a missing record does not mean nothing changed. General information, not legal advice. Check the official source. Please cite the record's url.",
    "change": {
        "id": 65,
        "url": "https://amendsignal.com/changes/wage-and-hour-division-says-family-and-medical-leave-act-leave-covers-travel/",
        "title": "Wage and Hour Division says Family and Medical Leave Act leave covers travel to and from medical appointments",
        "change_type": "guidance",
        "change_type_label": "Opinion letter",
        "status": "guidance_issued",
        "status_label": "Issued as agency guidance",
        "status_statement": "As of our last check on November 2, 2026, this is agency guidance, not a rule. It explains how the agency reads the law and does not create a legal requirement on its own.",
        "significance": "No new requirements",
        "jurisdiction": {
            "code": "US",
            "name": "United States"
        },
        "authority": {
            "name": "Wage and Hour Division",
            "short_name": "WHD"
        },
        "identifiers": [
            {
                "type": "opinion_letter_number",
                "label": "Opinion letter",
                "value": "FMLA2026-2"
            }
        ],
        "dates": [
            {
                "type": "publication",
                "label": "Published",
                "value": "2026-01-05",
                "precision": "day"
            }
        ],
        "in_short": {
            "what_changed": "In an opinion letter, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) says Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave covers travel to and from medical appointments for a serious health condition, and that a medical certification need not mention travel time. Travel for unrelated stops or activities is not protected.",
            "whos_affected": "Employers covered by the FMLA that have eligible employees taking leave for their own or a family member's medical appointments. The letter answers one requester's facts.",
            "what_to_do": "This letter creates no new legal requirement. Consider reviewing how you approve and count FMLA leave for appointment travel, and whether your certification process asks for travel time."
        },
        "summary": "The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued opinion letter FMLA2026-2. It says eligible employees may use Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave, counted against their entitlement, for travel to or from medical appointments for their own or a covered family member's serious health condition. It also says a medical certification does not need to address travel time to be complete. The letter is guidance based on one requester's facts and creates no new legal requirement.",
        "business_functions": {
            "state": "limited",
            "functions": [
                {
                    "slug": "human-resources",
                    "name": "Human resources"
                },
                {
                    "slug": "legal-and-compliance",
                    "name": "Legal and compliance"
                }
            ]
        },
        "added_on": "2026-11-03",
        "updated_on": null,
        "updates_in_progress": null,
        "last_checked": "2026-11-02",
        "record_url": "https://amendsignal.com/changes/wage-and-hour-division-says-family-and-medical-leave-act-leave-covers-travel/record.json",
        "what_changed": [
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) says an eligible employee may use Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave, counted against the employee's entitlement, to travel to or from a medical appointment for a serious health condition.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opening paragraph",
                        "excerpt": "an employee may use FMLA-protected leave that counts against his or her FMLA entitlement to travel to or from a medical appointment for a serious health condition."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "WHD says the same applies when an employee travels to or from a medical appointment for a covered family member's serious health condition.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion",
                        "excerpt": "when an eligible employee travels to or from a medical appointment with a health care provider to diagnose, monitor, or treat a serious health condition of a covered family member, that employee is entitled to use FMLA leave."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "WHD says a medical certification does not need to include any information about travel time to be complete and valid.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion",
                        "excerpt": "a medical certification need not include any information regarding travel time to be complete and valid under the FMLA and the Division’s regulations."
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "Conclusion",
                        "excerpt": "whether or not the medical certification indicates the need for, time required, or other particulars of, such travel time."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "WHD says protected travel time does not include travel to, from, or stops for unrelated activities, and that time spent on such activities does not count against the employee's entitlement.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion",
                        "excerpt": "FMLA-protected leave for travel time discussed above does not encompass travel to or from, or stops for, other unrelated activities."
                    },
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion, Example 4",
                        "excerpt": "would not be FMLA-protected leave and would not count against her entitlement."
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "who_is_affected": [
            {
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "text": "The letter is about employers covered by the FMLA and their eligible employees who take leave for medical appointments.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles, A. General Leave Requirements",
                        "excerpt": "The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "WHD states that the opinion rests only on the facts the requester described, so different facts could lead to a different answer.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "Note",
                        "excerpt": "This opinion is based exclusively on the facts and circumstances described in your request"
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "business_implications": [
            {
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "text": "Under WHD's reading, travel time for qualifying appointments uses up an employee's FMLA entitlement, so leave tracking that counts only appointment time may understate leave used.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion, Example 2",
                        "excerpt": "This leave is FMLA-protected and counts against his FMLA entitlement."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "text": "An employer that denies FMLA protection for appointment travel because the certification is silent on travel may be at odds with WHD's view, given the FMLA's ban on interfering with leave rights.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles, B. Medical Certification and Planned Medical Treatment",
                        "excerpt": "Interfering with an employee’s exercise of rights includes, for example, refusing to authorize FMLA leave or discouraging an employee from using such leave."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "text": "Employers can treat time spent on unrelated errands or stops during an appointment trip as outside FMLA protection, which may call for separating that time when recording leave.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion",
                        "excerpt": "FMLA-protected leave for travel time discussed above does not encompass travel to or from, or stops for, other unrelated activities."
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "required_actions": [
            {
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "text": "The FMLA (section 2615(a)(1) of title 29 of the United States Code) prohibits employers from interfering with, restraining or denying an employee's exercise of FMLA rights. The letter restates this existing duty; it does not create it.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles, B. Medical Certification and Planned Medical Treatment",
                        "excerpt": "The statute prohibits employers from interfering with, restraining, or denying an employee from exercising these and other rights protected by the Act, or an employee’s attempt to exercise such rights."
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "recommended_actions": [
            {
                "kind": "recommendation",
                "kind_label": "Our suggestion",
                "text": "Consider reviewing your FMLA leave policies and tracking so that travel to and from qualifying medical appointments is approved and counted as FMLA leave.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opening paragraph",
                        "excerpt": "an employee may use FMLA-protected leave that counts against his or her FMLA entitlement to travel to or from a medical appointment for a serious health condition."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "recommendation",
                "kind_label": "Our suggestion",
                "text": "Consider checking that your medical certification review does not treat a certification as incomplete because it leaves out travel time.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion",
                        "excerpt": "a medical certification need not include any information regarding travel time to be complete and valid under the FMLA and the Division’s regulations."
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "kind": "recommendation",
                "kind_label": "Our suggestion",
                "text": "Consider giving managers and leave administrators guidance on separating time spent on unrelated errands or stops from protected appointment travel.",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "Opinion, Example 4",
                        "excerpt": "would not be FMLA-protected leave and would not count against her entitlement."
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "required_actions_assessment": null,
        "applicability": [
            {
                "criterion": "where",
                "label": "Where",
                "answer": "United States, nationwide",
                "kind": "fact",
                "kind_label": "From the source",
                "evidence": []
            },
            {
                "criterion": "employer_type",
                "label": "Employers",
                "answer": "Employers covered by the FMLA; the letter does not define which employers are covered.",
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles, A. General Leave Requirements",
                        "excerpt": "The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "criterion": "size",
                "label": "Size",
                "answer": "The letter sets no size threshold of its own and refers only to covered employers.",
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles, A. General Leave Requirements",
                        "excerpt": "The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "criterion": "industries",
                "label": "Industries",
                "answer": "All industries; the letter does not single out any industry.",
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles, A. General Leave Requirements",
                        "excerpt": "The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "criterion": "functions",
                "label": "Functions",
                "answer": "HR and leave administration teams that approve leave and review medical certifications.",
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "General Legal Principles, B. Medical Certification and Planned Medical Treatment",
                        "excerpt": "A covered employer may require that an employee submit a medical certification to support the employee’s need for FMLA leave"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "criterion": "applies_if",
                "label": "Applies if",
                "answer": "You have eligible employees who take FMLA leave for medical appointments for their own or a family member's serious health condition.",
                "kind": "inference",
                "kind_label": "Our analysis",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "Background",
                        "excerpt": "You indicate that you have eligible employees who take planned intermittent or reduced-schedule FMLA leave to attend medical appointments"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "criterion": "action",
                "label": "Action",
                "answer": "Consider counting appointment travel as FMLA leave and not requiring certifications to address travel time.",
                "kind": "recommendation",
                "kind_label": "Our suggestion",
                "evidence": [
                    {
                        "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf",
                        "locator": "Conclusion",
                        "excerpt": "whether or not the medical certification indicates the need for, time required, or other particulars of, such travel time."
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "open_questions": [
            {
                "question": "Does WHD's answer apply to employers whose facts differ from the requester's?",
                "context": "The letter says the opinion is based only on the facts the requester described and that other facts might lead to a different conclusion."
            },
            {
                "question": "How may an employer confirm how much travel time an employee needs if the medical certification does not address it?",
                "context": "The letter says certifications need not include travel time but does not say how employers may verify the travel time an employee reports."
            }
        ],
        "events": [
            {
                "event_type": "originating_action",
                "label": "Issued",
                "occurred_on": "2026-01-05",
                "summary": "FMLA2026-2: Whether FMLA leave may be used for time spent traveling to or from medical appointments, including where an employee provided the employer with medical certification from a health care provider that confirms the employee’s need for the appointment, but the certification does not address travel to or from the appointment.",
                "source": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf"
            }
        ],
        "corrections": [],
        "sources": [
            {
                "label": "Whether FMLA leave may be used for time spent traveling to or from medical appointments, including where an employee provided the employer with medical certification from a health care provider that confirms the employee’s need for the appointment, but the certification does not address travel to or from the appointment.",
                "publisher": "Wage and Hour Division",
                "role": "primary",
                "url": "https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf"
            }
        ]
    }
}