WASHINGTON — The Labor Department released a new regulation recently allowing workers to take up to 26 weeks off each year to care for family members seriously injured in the military.

The new rule grew out of a recommendation by the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors that was incorporated into legislation signed into law in January.

The change will also allow relatives of active-duty National Guard members and military reservists to take off for up to 12 weeks to look after their affairs.

The liberalized military leave entitlements are part of a series of modifications to the 15-year-old Family and Medical Leave Act that have been finalized by the Labor Department.

The changes come after a nearly two-year review in which the department received more than 20,000 comments from worker advocates and employers.