Time to head to the paper shredder. The expired FMLA forms DOL told you to keep using have been replaced. As first reported by Attorney Jeff Nowak in his FMLA Insights blog, DOL recently issued new FMLA forms which do not expire until May 31, 2018.

Other than a change in the expiration date, it appears that the only substantive change to the forms is a brief reference to the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) in the WH-380E, 380F, 385 and 385V medical certification forms. According to the GINA regulations, if an employer provides a safe harbor notice with the request for medical certification, any receipt of genetic information in response to the request will be considered inadvertent (and will not violate GINA).

In the new FMLA forms, the instructions to the healthcare provider (section II on the forms) states:

“Do not provide information about genetic tests, as defined in 29 C.F.R. § 1635.3(f), genetic services, as defined in 29 C.F.R. § 1635.3(e), or the manifestation of disease or disorder in the employee’s family members, 29 C.F.R. § 1635.3(b).”

BLR will report further on the new forms as more information becomes available. But for now, shred those old outdated FMLA forms and start using the new forms which can be found at:

• WH-380-E Certification of Health Care Provider for Employee’s Serious Health Condition
• WH-380-F Certification of Health Care Provider for Family Member’s Serious Health Condition
• WH-381 Notice of Eligibility and Rights & Responsibilities
• WH-382 Designation Notice
• WH-384 Certification of Qualifying Exigency For Military Family Leave
• WH-385 Certification for Serious Injury or Illness of Covered Servicemember -- for Military Family Leave
• WH-385-V Certification for Serious Injury or Illness of a Veteran for Military Caregiver Leave