Legislation would expand leave benefits for military families

On May 12, 2025, members of Congress introduced the Making it Likely for Families of the Military to Live with Leave Access (MIL FMLA) Act (S 1710/HR 3296). If passed into law, it would amend the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) by expanding leave benefits for military family members who aren’t currently covered under the FMLA.

The MIL FMLA Act would amend the FMLA by:

• Adding reserve components and domestic deployments as covered active duty for family members;
  • Currently, the FMLA includes only deployments to foreign countries.
• Eliminating the requirement that military caregiver protections only apply to veterans who served within the last five years.
  • Currently, the FMLA applies to veterans who have served in the past five years.
• Allowing military caregivers to use special military caregiver FMLA leave more than once;
  • Currently, employees may take no more than 26 workweeks of leave within any single 12-month period, with some exceptions.
• Expanding military caregiver provisions to cover domestic partners and other close family members like aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, grandparents, grandchildren, and other loved ones.
  • Currently, the FMLA entitles employees to take military caregiver leave to care for only a spouse, son, daughter, or parent, or next of kin of a covered servicemember.
• Creating a new form of leave, specifically for veterans who need extended time off to address serious injuries or illnesses related to their service.
  • Currently, the FMLA’s military caregiver leave doesn’t have a special form of leave.

The measure was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. 

The bill has a very slim chance of being enacted, but such measures give employers a feel for what members of Congress are trying to accomplish.