Get ready: Your company is likely going to have to offer medical leave options in more situations.

President Obama has announced he’s extending benefits under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to domestic partners caring for ill loved ones or newborns.

Think you missed a new law? There was none.

According to insiders at the Department of Labor (DOL), this latest expansion is merely a “new interpretation” of the decades-old law.

In fact, the DOL just issued a formal Administrator’s Interpretation clarifying the term “son or daughter” as far as FMLA eligibility to care for a child after birth.

The new and expanded definition of a caregiver now includes:

• unmarried partners
• stepparents
• same-sex partners, and
• grandparents.

Basically, your company’s new filter for eligibility is anyone who intends to provide day-to-day care and/or financial support now qualifies. (DOL Administrator’s Interpretation No. 2010-3)

Prepping for more requests

Of course, while you want all employees to have equal coverage, there’s no denying the FMLA is an extremely expensive and cumbersome law, especially for small businesses.

In light of this new extension, there’s no better time to make sure you can handle the absences. That means ensuring that employees are cross-trained and that all supervisors have contingency plans in place in the event staffers are out for extended periods of time.

It’s also a great idea to double check that your FMLA request policies are crystal-clear.

Info: www.dol.gov/compliance/topics/benefits-leave-FMLA.htm