Your employee, Thelma, has requested FMLA leave to take her mom, Louise, to regular doctor appointments. Though the appointment itself will take one hour, Thelma wants to schedule it in the middle of the workday and for a total of five hours. The travel, she says, takes “quite a bit of time . . . and it’s none of your business.”
Beginning 2026 a little salty, we see?
Naturally, you’re frustrated, since you sense that Thelma purposefully encouraged that appointment for midday, and in any event, there’s no way this doc is two hours each way, since the physician is 15 minutes from work and Louise lives close by.
The medical appointment itself clearly is covered by FMLA. But is travel time associated with the medical appointment covered as well?
In an opinion letter issued this week, the Department of Labor answered the question:
. . . when an eligible employee travels to or from a health care provider for a medical appointment regarding the employee’s [or family member’s] serious health condition, he or she may take FMLA leave not only for the actual appointment, but also the time traveling to or from the appointment.
Not all is lost, my employer friends. In this same opinion letter, the DOL made clear, “by contrast, travel time that is not related to the . . . serious medical condition is not protected by the FMLA.”
What Have the Courts Said on the Issue of Travel?
The DOL guidance is fairly clear. But have the courts agreed? Very few courts have given us guidance as to whether travel time itself qualifies as part of the FMLA leave allotment, but those that have, generally side with the DOL.
My quick take on the courts’ logic: If it’s clear that the treatment involved will occur on Day X, then a court likely would find that the travel necessary to get to the destination by or on Day X is so intertwined with the need for leave that it should be considered part of the protected leave as well.
Good for Employees
One case I find persuasive on this issue is Michaels v. City of McPherson, a federal trial court case from a few years ago. In Michaels, the employee’s step-daughter was required to travel out-of-town for medical treatment. The employee requested leave for two days, planning to help his wife drive, and then attend the exam with his daughter. The employer denied the request, requiring that the employee work instead of traveling with his daughter.
In defending against the FMLA suit, the employer argued that leave from work was merely a convenience, and not a medical necessity. The employee argued, however, that leave was medically necessary in order to travel to the out-of-town medical appointment. The court declined to dismiss the case, finding that travel to another state for treatment very well could be covered by FMLA.
Here, travel was so intertwined with the treatment itself (which independently was covered by FMLA) that it also arguably is protected by the FMLA.
Good for Employers
As the DOL opinion letter notes, Thelma’s five-hour medical appointments may amount to unprotected boondoggles to the extent that the time away is not specifically associated [or intertwined!] with the travel to/from the appointment and the treatment itself. Take, for instance, one of our favorite cases here at the blog, Tayag v. Lahey Clinic Hosp., in which a federal appellate court upheld a denial of FMLA leave and the plaintiff’s termination because a significant portion of a trip to meet with a “faith healer” actually was spent visiting socially with family. The court held that the employee failed to notify the employer of these activities and in any event, the FMLA “does not permit employees to take time off to take a vacation with a seriously ill spouse, even if caring for the spouse is an ‘incidental consequence’ of taking him on vacation.”
In light of the above, I encourage you to have a conversation with your employee about: 1) scheduling this regular appointment around your operations (e.g., early or late in the day to avoid interrupting the workday); and 2) the travel time. To this end, you have the right to know why it takes two hours each way. It could be legit (a specialist, perhaps, or maybe you find out there are other “caring for” duties Thelma is performing) but if it ain’t two hours each way, we’ve got some pushing back to do.
In the meantime, still thinking about that faith healer. Hmmm. Maybe this is what I need to get my 2026 off right . . .