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U.S. Master™ Wage-Hour Guide, 2009 Edition
Presents a first approach to the broad and complex controls under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and other statutes regulating employee wages and hours.

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CCH® PAYROLL — 6/5/08

House passes bill to provide FMLA leave to airline flight crews

The House overwhelmingly approved legislation that would allow thousands of airline pilots and flight attendants to qualify for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) benefits they are currently denied. The House passed the bill—the Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act (H.R. 2744)—by a 402-9 vote on May 20.

The bill would clarify that most flight crew employees can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid family and medical leave to recover from an illness, or care for newborn children and sick or injured family members.

To qualify for FMLA benefits, employees must work at least 60 percent of a normal 40-hour work week in the year preceding FMLA leave, which is about 1,250 hours annually. Pilots and attendants are nearly always credited with fewer than the 1,250 hours need to qualify for FMLA benefits because airlines calculate most pilots’ and attendants’ hours according to the time they spend in flight, and not the time they spend at work in between flights.

Under the bill approved by the House, flight attendants and pilots would be eligible for FMLA leave if they have been paid for or worked at least 504 hours a year and at least 60 percent of the employer’s full-time schedule or the equivalent in the 12 months preceding leave. Similar legislation (S. 2059) is pending in the Senate.

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