After the Supreme Court's June 26 ruling in United States v. Windsor, the United States Department of Labor has revised Fact Sheet #28F: Qualifying Reasons for Leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act to define a spouse as "husband or wife as defined or recognized under state law for purposes of marriage in the state where the employee resides, including ?common law' marriage and same-sex marriage."

This means that lawfully married same-sex spouses who live in a state that recognizes same-sex marriage may be entitled to FMLA leave to care for a spouse with a serious health condition, for activities related to a military spouse's deployment, and for military caregiver leave like other eligible employees. While Hawaii law does not currently recognize same-sex marriage, Governor Abercrombie has recently stated that it is possible that a special session of the Hawaii Legislature could be called to further consider this issue.