The US Department of Labor on January 30 released a notice of proposed regulations (NPRM) to implement amendments to the military leave provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) made by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010.  The statutory amendments extended the availability of FMLA leave to family members of members of the Regular Armed Forces for qualifying exigencies due to the servicemember's deployment; define the deployments covered by the new regulations; and extend FMLA military caregiver leave to family members of certain veterans with serious injuries or illnesses. The proposed regulations also include changes concerning the calculation of leave and reorganize and make technical changes to the current regulations covering military FMLA. 

President Obama appointed three new members to the National Labor Relations Board, bringing the Board back to full membership.  The recess appointees avoid the dilemma of a functionally inoperative Board, had its membership fallen below two.

As stated on its website, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has agreed to postpone the effective date of its employee rights notice-posting rule at the request of the federal court in Washington, DC hearing a legal challenge regarding the rule.  The NLRB's ruling states that it has determined that postponing the effective date of the rule would facilitate the resolution of the legal challenges that have been filed with respect to the rule.  The new implementation date is April 30, 2012. 

Most private sector employers will be required to post the 11-by-17-inch notice on the new implementation date of April 30.  The notice is available at no cost from the NLRB through its website, http://www.nlrb.gov, which has additional information on posting requirements and NLRB jurisdiction.