29 U.S.C. § 2611 — Definitions

(1) “Commerce” and “industry or activity affecting commerce” mean commerce or an activity, business, or industry in commerce, or one whose labor dispute would hinder commerce or its free flow. They also include the meanings in section 142(1) and (3). (2) “Eligible employee” generally means someone employed by the relevant employer at least 12 months and who worked at least 1,250 hours there during the previous 12 months. It excludes covered Federal employees and an employee at a worksite with fewer than 50 employees when fewer than 50 of the employer's employees work within 75 miles. The section does not define “covered Federal employee.” Legal standards under section 207 determine hours of service. For a flight attendant or crewmember defined by FAA regulations, the hours requirement is met if, during the prior 12 months, the employee worked or was paid for at least 60% of the applicable monthly guarantee (or equivalent) and at least 504 hours, excluding personal commuting, vacation, and medical or sick leave. Each employer must keep on file, under Secretary rules, the monthly guarantee for each category. “Applicable monthly guarantee” means the minimum monthly hours the employer agreed to schedule for a nonreserve employee, or the hours it agreed to pay a reserve employee, as set by a collective-bargaining agreement or, if none, employer policy. The general requirements do not apply to a Government Accountability Office employee seeking leave under section 2612(a)(1)(A) or (B). (3) “Employ,” “employee,” and “State” have the meanings in section 203(c), (e), and (g). (4) “Employer” means a person in commerce or an affected industry that employs at least 50 employees on each working day of 20 or more workweeks in the current or preceding year. It also includes a person acting directly or indirectly for the employer toward employees, a successor in interest, a “public agency” defined in section 203(x), the Government Accountability Office, and the Library of Congress. A public agency is treated as a person engaged in commerce or an affected industry. (5) “Employment benefits” means all benefits an employer provides or makes available, including group life, health, and disability insurance, sick and annual leave, education benefits, and pensions, whether supplied by practice, written policy, or an “employee benefit plan” defined in section 1002(3). (6) “Health care provider” means a state-authorized doctor of medicine or osteopathy, or another person the Secretary determines can provide health services. (7) “Parent” means an employee's biological parent or someone who stood in the place of a parent when the employee was a son or daughter. This section does not define “in loco parentis.” (8) “Person” has the meaning in section 203(a). (9) “Reduced leave schedule” means leave reducing an employee's usual hours per week or per workday. (10) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Labor. (11) “Serious health condition” means an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition involving inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical facility, or continuing treatment by a health care provider. (12) “Son or daughter” means a biological, adopted, or foster child, stepchild, legal ward, or child of someone standing in the place of a parent, who is under 18 or is at least 18 and cannot care for themself because of a mental or physical disability. (13) “Spouse” means a husband or wife. (14) “Covered active duty” means, for a regular Armed Forces member, deployment with the Armed Forces to a foreign country, and for a reserve member, such deployment under a call or order to active duty under a law listed in section 101(a)(13)(B) of title 10. (15) “Covered servicemember” means (A) an Armed Forces member, including National Guard or Reserve, receiving medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy, otherwise an outpatient, or on the temporary disability retired list for a serious injury or illness; or (B) a veteran receiving such treatment, recuperation, or therapy for a serious injury or illness who served in the Armed Forces, including Guard or Reserve, at some time during the 5 years before that care. (16) “Outpatient status” means, for a covered servicemember, assignment as an outpatient to a military medical facility or to a unit established to command and control members receiving outpatient care. (17) “Next of kin” means an individual's nearest blood relative. (18) “Serious injury or illness” means, for a service member, an injury or illness incurred in line of duty on active duty, or existing before active duty and aggravated in line of duty, that may make the member medically unfit for the duties of the office, grade, rank, or rating. For a veteran, it means a qualifying injury or illness as defined by the Labor Secretary, incurred or aggravated in that way, that appeared before or after the person became a veteran. (19) “Veteran” has the meaning in section 101 of title 38.