Yes. An eligible employee may use FMLA leave for time spent traveling to or from a medical appointment related to the employee’s serious health condition or a qualifying family member’s serious health condition. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division explained this in Opinion Letter FMLA2026-2. The travel must be connected to getting the qualifying care; travel or stops for unrelated activities are not covered by this guidance (U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division [WHD], 2026). www.dol.gov
An appointment does not automatically qualify just because it is medical. The employee must be eligible for FMLA, and the reason for leave must meet the law’s requirements. Eligibility depends on factors such as the employee’s length of service, hours worked, employer, and work location (WHD, 2025). www.dol.gov
Consider this fictional example. Rix works from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and leaves work at 9:15 a.m. for an appointment related to a qualifying serious health condition. The drive takes 45 minutes each way, and the appointment lasts 45 minutes. Rix returns to work at 11:30 a.m. If Rix is eligible and the appointment qualifies, the time away from work for the appointment and related travel totals 2 hours and 15 minutes. This example assumes Rix missed scheduled work during that time. It illustrates how the DOL’s guidance could apply; it does not create a separate travel-time allowance (WHD, 2026). www.dol.gov
For intermittent FMLA leave, employers must use the smallest time increment they use for other leave, up to one hour. They may count only the leave actually taken, not time the employee worked (U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, n.d.). www.dol.gov
What if the medical certification confirms the need for an appointment but does not estimate travel time? The DOL opinion letter says a health care provider does not need to estimate travel time for the certification to be complete and sufficient. The letter addresses appointments related to an employee’s own serious health condition and care for a qualifying family member (WHD, 2026). www.dol.gov
For employers, a practical approach is to record the scheduled work time missed for the qualifying appointment and related travel. Apply the usual FMLA timekeeping increment and count only the leave actually taken. Keep the time connected to the qualifying medical purpose; a personal errand during the trip is not included in the DOL’s travel-time guidance (WHD, 2026; U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, n.d.).
So, yes: when the appointment qualifies under FMLA, an eligible employee may use FMLA leave for the time spent traveling to and from the appointment. The employer counts only the work time the employee actually misses, using the applicable leave increments (WHD, 2026; U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, n.d.).
References
U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. (2025, March). Fact Sheet #28: The Family and Medical Leave Act. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/28-fmla
U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. (2026, January 5). Opinion letter FMLA2026-2: Whether FMLA leave may be used for time spent traveling to or from medical appointments. https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FMLA/FMLA2026-2.pdf
U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. (n.d.). Fact Sheet #28I: Calculation of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/28i-fmla-leave-calculation
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