Most U.S. employees working overseas for US employers are not covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), according to the Department of Labor (DOL).

The DOL in an opinion letter it issued on this matter states: “The Department of Labor administers the FMLA only with respect to employees employed in the United States, including the District of Columbia and any territory or possession of the United States. Therefore, employees stationed full time overseas in a foreign country on one and two year employment contracts would not be eligible for the benefits of the FMLA while working overseas.”

If your employees instead are assigned to any of the current U.S. territories—including American Samoa, Guam, Midway Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands—they would be covered by the FMLA.

The basis for the DOL opinion letter may be found in section 29 CFR 825.105 of the DOL regulation on the FMLA. The regulation, which outlines steps to determine whether an employer is covered under the FMLA, specifically states: “However, the FMLA applies only to employees who are employed within any State of the United States, the District of Columbia or any Territory or possession of the United States. Employees who are employed outside these areas are not counted for purposes of determining employer coverage or employee eligibility.”

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Therefore, when your employees are working outside of the United States and its territories, as described above, they would not be covered under the FMLA.