On September 4, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division released the long-awaited new Family Medical Leave Act notices and certification forms.  The new forms are now available for download from the DOL website.

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the DOL must submit its forms to the Federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval every three years.  The previous forms expired on May 31, 2018, and since then the DOL had renewed the expired forms on a monthly basis pending OMB approval of the new forms. 

The good news is that except for an updated expiration date of August 31, 2021, which appears in the top right corner of the forms, the new versions are identical to the expired forms.  Therefore, employers do not need to worry about any substantive amendments to the forms at this time, but should update their FMLA procedures to ensure that the new forms are used going forward.