If an employee first takes military caregiver leave in June 2009, between June 2009 and June 2010 (the “single 12-month period” for military caregiver leave), he can take a combined total of 26 workweeks of leave, including up to 12 weeks for any other qualifying FMLA reason if he has not yet taken any FMLA leave in 2009.

If, however, the employee had already taken five weeks of FMLA leave for his own serious health condition when he began taking military caregiver leave in June 2009, he would then be entitled to no more than seven weeks of FMLA leave for reasons other than to care for a covered servicemember during the remainder of the 2009 calendar year (i.e., the 12 weeks yearly entitlement minus the five weeks already taken). Although his entitlement to FMLA leave for reasons other than military caregiver leave is limited by his prior use of FMLA leave during the calendar year, the employee is still entitled to take up to 26 weeks of FMLA leave to care for a covered servicemember from June-December 2009.

Beginning in January 2010, the employee is entitled to an additional 12 weeks of FMLA leave for reasons other than to care for a covered servicemember. If the employee takes four weeks of FMLA leave for his own serious health condition in January 2010, this would reduce both the number of available weeks of FMLA leave remaining in calendar year 2010 (i.e., the 12 week yearly entitlement minus the four weeks already taken) and the number of weeks of FMLA leave available for either military caregiver leave or other FMLA qualifying reasons during the “single 12-month period” of June 2009-June 2010.

Once the employee exhausts his or her 26-workweek entitlement, he or she may not take any additional FMLA leave for any reason until the “single 12-month period” ends. Thus, for example, if the employee took 20 workweeks of military caregiver leave from June-December 2009, four workweeks of leave in January 2010 for his or her own serious health condition, and another two workweeks of military caregiver leave in March 2010, the employee will have exhausted his or her 26-workweek entitlement for the “single 12-month period” of June 2009-June 2010. While the employee would still have eight weeks of FMLA leave available in calendar year 2010, the employee could not take such leave until after June 2010, when the “single 12-month period” ends.

Source: Comments to 29 CFR 825.127(c)(1), published at 73 Federal Register 67970–67971, November 17, 2008.