Travel time to a medical appointment should generally be counted as FMLA leave

Q         We have an employee who recently requested intermittent Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave for flare ups and treatment of a chronic condition. Her doctor is about 1.5 hours from her home. Our company pays 100% of FMLA leave. Are we required to count the round-trip travel time to her appointments as FMLA leave, or should she use paid time off (PTO)?

A   Based on the facts presented in your question, the recommended course would be to count the travel time as FMLA leave. Assuming the condition for which she is seeking leave is a “serious health condition” under the FMLA, then you must allow for intermittent leave when requested for any “medically necessary” appointments or treatments. You are generally required to count reasonable time spent traveling to and from such medical appointments as intermittent FMLA leave. Travel time is so inextricably connected to the needed leave that it should usually be allowed, allocated, and tracked as FMLA leave.

Your question appears to be focused, however, on whether you have to count travel time when she has selected a distant medical provider requiring a significant amount of time off of work to travel to and from her appointments. It’s certainly possible an argument could be made the duration of the travel is excessive. Unfortunately, there isn’t much guidance on the question—whether such an argument could be made, and if so, what amount of travel time would be considered excessive. Neither the courts nor the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has provided direction on the issue.