Military caregiver leave.

The rule in short

Section 825.127 gives eligible employees up to 26 workweeks of FMLA leave to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness during a single 12-month period (825.127(e)). That is more than the 12 weeks available for other reasons. The employer, not the employee, is responsible for designating leave as FMLA-qualifying and giving notice of the designation, including leave to care for a covered servicemember (825.127(e)(4)).

Who is a covered servicemember

Two groups are covered. The first is a current member of the Armed Forces, including the National Guard or Reserves, who is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation or therapy, is otherwise in outpatient status, or is on the temporary disability retired list, for a serious injury or illness. The second is a covered veteran undergoing medical treatment, recuperation or therapy for a serious injury or illness, meaning someone discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable at any time during the five-year period before the first date the employee takes leave to care for them (825.127(b)). The employee must start leave within five years of the veteran’s active duty service, but the single 12-month period can extend beyond the five years.

What counts as a serious injury or illness

For a current servicemember, it is an injury or illness incurred in the line of duty on active duty, or one that existed before active duty and was aggravated by service in the line of duty, that may render the member medically unfit to perform the duties of their office, grade, rank or rating. For a veteran, the injury or illness must have been incurred or aggravated in service and be one of four things: a continuation of a serious injury or illness that made the servicemember unable to perform their duties; a condition for which the veteran has a Department of Veterans Affairs Service-Related Disability Rating of 50 percent or greater based on that condition; a condition that substantially impairs the veteran’s ability to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation because of service-related disability; or an injury, including psychological, for which the veteran is enrolled in the VA Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (825.127(c)).

Which family members qualify

The employee must be the servicemember’s spouse, son, daughter, parent or next of kin. Son or daughter includes biological, adopted or foster children, stepchildren, legal wards and children for whom the member stood in loco parentis, of any age. Parent includes biological, adoptive, step and foster parents and those who stood in loco parentis, but not parents-in-law. Next of kin is the nearest blood relative other than spouse, parent, son or daughter, in this order: blood relatives granted legal custody by court decree, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and first cousins, unless the servicemember has designated another blood relative in writing. When several relatives are at the same level and no designation exists, all of them are next of kin and may take leave consecutively or simultaneously (825.127(d)).

How the 26 weeks and the 12-month period work

The single 12-month period begins the first day the employee takes caregiver leave and ends 12 months after that date, regardless of how the employer measures the 12 weeks for other reasons. Weeks not taken in that period are forfeited (825.127(e)(1)). The entitlement applies per covered servicemember and per injury, so an employee may be entitled to more than one 26-week period for different servicemembers or a subsequent serious injury of the same one, but never more than 26 weeks in any single 12-month period (825.127(e)(2)).

Leave for other reasons shares the same cap. An employee gets a combined total of 26 workweeks of leave for any FMLA reason in that period, but no more than 12 weeks for the birth of a child, adoption or foster placement, caring for a spouse, child or parent with a serious health condition, the employee’s own serious health condition, or a qualifying exigency. The regulation’s example: 16 weeks to care for a servicemember and 10 weeks to care for a newborn is allowed; 14 weeks for the newborn is not, even if the caregiver leave is shorter (825.127(e)(3)).

Spouses working for the same employer

Spouses employed by the same covered employer may be limited to a combined 26 workweeks in the single 12-month period when the leave is for a child’s birth or care, placement for adoption or foster care, care of the employee’s parent with a serious health condition, or care of a covered servicemember. The limit applies even if they work at different worksites more than 75 miles apart. If one spouse is ineligible for FMLA, the other keeps the full 26 weeks (825.127(f)).

Worked example

An employee starts caregiver leave on March 31, 2026 to care for her brother, a covered veteran. Her single 12-month period runs to March 31, 2027. She has already used 3 weeks of other FMLA leave for a newborn in that same period, so up to 23 weeks remain for caregiver leave (26 minus 3). The veteran was discharged on January 31, 2024, so her leave must begin by January 31, 2029; her March 2026 start is inside that window. The paperwork the employer may request is the certification described in 825.310, completed by an authorized health care provider of the servicemember.

Sources

Sources opened and read November 2, 2026.

• eCFR: 29 CFR 825.127 Leave to care for a covered servicemember (military caregiver leave) (current through October 29, 2026) (read November 2, 2026)
• eCFR: 29 CFR 825.310 Certification for leave to care for a covered servicemember (current through October 29, 2026) (read November 2, 2026)
• U.S. Department of Labor: FMLA forms page (Internet Archive copy; dol.gov returns 403 to automated requests) (read November 2, 2026)