On Tuesday the Senate cleared a bill that would close a Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) loophole for airline pilots and flight attendants. The Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act (S. 1422) would change the hours of service requirements to enable more airline industry employees to take FMLA leave. On February 9 of this year, the House also passed by voice vote a nearly identical bill (H.R. 912).

During floor consideration of the Senate bill, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who introduced the legislation, stated:

This bill reflects the intent of the FMLA’s original sponsors to provide an alternative way to include flight crews that addresses the airline industry’s unique time-keeping methods. I am proud that the Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act fixes a technical problem that has left many full-time flight crew members ineligible for family medical leave for many years due to the unique way their work hours are calculated.

As the law currently stands, employees are eligible to take FMLA leave if they have worked for their employer for at least 12 months and for at least 1,250 hours during the previous 12 months, which amounts to at least 60 percent of a standard 40-hour workweek. This method of calculation impacts employees in the airline industry, whose time spent on the job between flights or on mandatory standby does not count as “hours worked” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which the courts use to determine the requisite number of hours for FMLA purposes. The approved bill would clarify that the hours pilots or flight attendants work or for which they are paid – not just those spent in flight – count toward the minimum hours calculation. Specifically, an airline flight crew member would be eligible to take FMLA leave if he or she had worked or been paid for 60 percent of the applicable monthly guarantee, or the equivalent amount annualized over the preceding 12-month period, and if he or she had worked or been paid for at least 504 hours during the previous 12-month period.

Before the Senate’s voice vote, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) asked whether the bill could be construed to apply to other occupational groups that operate under reserve systems such as health care, railway, and emergency services. In response, Sen. Murray clarified that “this bill narrowly deals with flight crews only. The bill is a technical correction for language that was intended to be in the original Family Medical Leave Act, but for some reason or another was left out.”

The House is expected to approve the Senate’s version of the bill, which will likely be signed into law by the end of the year. 

Photo credit:  arsenik