Fortune Magazine this week issued its list of best metro areas in which to launch a business.  Durham is 15th on that list for midsized areas. 

Here is what Fortune said: 

To hear local entrepreneurs tell it, Durham is putting the D in diversity. Once known for tobacco and textiles, today it’s part of The Research Triangle, the world’s largest research and development center. The city is home to an array of high-tech, medical and financial services companies, as well as federal agencies and educational institutions.

The locals are a highly educated bunch: Duke University, North Carolina Central University and Durham Technical Community College employ and train area residents. Business support organizations like the Institute for Minority Economic Development and the Women’s Business Center offer the resources entrepreneurs need to thrive.

The city’s strong sense of community helps its assorted enterprises and individuals come together. It’s the kind of place where businesses embrace struggling local schools by donating supplies, volunteering classroom speakers and hosting field trips.

Living, business and construction costs remain low compared to national averages. Another local perk: Durham offers plenty of ways to unwind after a hard day’s work, from kayaking and hiking to performance art and gallery tours.

I’d love to hear from people who have started in Durham and in other places.  What has the Bull City experience been like?

Today, sweeping new regulations to the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) go into effect.  Employers large and small need to be trained on new notice provisions, new forms and how to implement the new regulations.

The new regulations incorporate provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act, which allows leave to care for a service member who is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy.  It also allows leave to deal with exigencies arising out of the fact that the spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent of the employee is on active duty (or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty).

Some additional major modifications include:

• Applying exigency leave for National Guard and reserve members
• Allowing 26 weeks of leave for family members of wounded military personnel
• Redefining what constitutes a “serious health condition”
• Redefining the “inability” to perform job duties
• Listing new criteria for establishing a chronic health condition
• Establishing scope of authority to contact health care providers to obtain additional information
• Establishing scope of fitness for duty certifications
• Clarifying the 12 month period for use of leave
• Restricting the charging of FMLA leave when an employee returns to light duty
• Requiring new forms and notice
• Redefining intermittent leave and restricting its use

One change of particular note to North Carolina employers is clarification that employees may waive claims of past employer conduct that may violate the FMLA without consent of a court or the Department of Labor.  This clarification is especially meaningful in the Fourth Circuit, which includes Virginia and North Carolina, because the Fourth Circuit had taken the minority view that neither past nor prospective FMLA rights could be released.

The FMLA applies to companies with 50 employees or more and permits up to 12 weeks of leave for medical issues of the employee or certain family members, birth, adoption or foster care.  It also provides up to 26 weeks of leave for family members of wounded service members.

Our employment attorneys recommend that business owners and HR directors get specific training on what these changes are and how to correctly implement them.