From Door to Doctor: DOL Clarifies That FMLA Leave Covers Travel Time

Quick Hits

• Employees may use FMLA leave to attend medical appointments related to serious health conditions for themselves or for a qualifying family member.
• FMLA leave also covers reasonable travel to and from such appointments.
• Medical certifications need not include an estimate of travel time to be complete and sufficient.

Using FMLA Leave for Medical Appointments

The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take up to twelve work weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave during a twelve-month period for, among other reasons, the treatment of the employee’s own serious health condition or to care for a parent, child, or spouse with a serious health condition. Leave may be taken intermittently or on a reduced-leave schedule when “medically necessary.” The law’s definition of “serious health condition” includes inpatient care or continuing treatment by a health care provider, and it further contemplates that such care or treatment includes the use of FMLA leave for medical appointments to diagnose, monitor, and treat a serious health condition. Employers may require a medical certification to support the need for intermittent or reduced schedule leave, including leave to attend medical appointments.

The DOL’s Opinion Letter

While the FMLA and its regulations were silent on whether travel time to and from a medical appointment is covered, the DOL’s opinion letter addresses that gap. According to the DOL, “Part and parcel of obtaining care and continuing treatment from a medical provider may require the employee to travel to the provider’s location.” Accordingly, the associated travel time is FMLA‑protected when it is tied to a covered appointment. This applies whether the appointment is for the employee’s own condition or to care for a qualifying family member.

The DOL opinion letter further asserts that medical certifications need not address travel time. Certifications are limited to “medical facts” within the provider’s knowledge related to the condition, and providers typically do not have knowledge of the patient’s commute to and from the appointment. Accordingly, a certification is complete and sufficient without an estimate of travel time.

At the same time, the DOL emphasizes that the FMLA does not protect the use or misuse of leave for travel (or other activities) that are unrelated to an FMLA-covered appointment. Employers may treat such time as unprotected and may apply normal attendance policies to such absences.

The DOL goes on to offer several illustrative examples of when travel is or is not covered by the FMLA, summarized as follows:

• An employee’s thirty minutes of travel to her 4:00 p.m. dialysis appointment, plus the treatment time, qualify for FMLA leave.
• An employee’s approximately two-and-a-half hour absence, every other week to leave work, pick up his mother, drive her to an appointment that lasts thirty minutes, and take her back home is FMLA-protected and counts against his FMLA entitlement.
• An employee who takes leave to accompany a child with a chronic serious health condition on a school band trip, during which the child does not require care, is not using FMLA‑covered time because the absence is not related to the child’s condition.
• An employee who normally uses two hours of intermittent FMLA leave on Friday afternoons for physical therapy and travel requests three hours one day to run personal errands after therapy. The two hours related to therapy and travel are FMLA‑covered; the additional hour is not and does not count against the employee’s FMLA entitlement.

Practical Implications for Employers

Employers may want to consider aligning attendance and leave administration practices with the opinion letter by recognizing travel to and from covered medical appointments as part of intermittent FMLA leave when related to the serious health condition of the employee or a covered family member. Training for leave administrators and managers may encompass how to distinguish FMLA‑covered travel time from unrelated activities, ensure certifications are evaluated for medical sufficiency without requiring travel estimates, and accurately account for protected versus unprotected time when tracking FMLA usage and applying attendance policies.

Ogletree Deakins’ Leaves of Absence/Reasonable Accommodation Practice Group will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Leaves of Absence blog as additional information becomes available.

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