14 Years of FMLA -- February 5, 2007
Today marks the 14th anniversary of the original Family and Medical Leave Act(FMLA). Yahoo. But as we've discussed before in On Balance, FMLA, which is rightly considered "landmark" legislation because no safeguards existed before it and over 50 million workers have benefited, provides important but fairly minimal protection: Employees who've worked for 12 months and put in at least 1,250 hours at companies with 50 or more employees can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave if they are ill or if they need to care for a sick family member or new child.
Senator Chris Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut and one of the original authors of FMLA, is proposing new legislation to expand FMLA, to put into law what some companies currently offer on a volunteer basis. Sen. Dodd's bill will push for at least six weeks of paid leave for an employee to care for themselves, their children, and their immediate family members. The program would be funded by a shared-cost mechanism supported by the employer, the employee and the federal government. The National Partnership for Women and Families and Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) have announced their support of Dodd's legislation.
"The U.S. does not do nearly enough to ensure that our workers aren't forced to choose between their family and their job," Dodd said in a press release announcing his modest new legislation. "Now more than ever, millions of workers need to be able to take care of their young children and their aging parents. No worker should be penalized for caring for their family."
Put that way, who can object? But what's incredible is that it's only been 14 years that American parents have had government support to combine work and family. It took eight years and two presidential vetoes before FLMA was signed into law under Clinton in 1993 -- the first bill he signed as President. Hopefully Sen. Dodd's expansion bill will get approved a little more quickly this time around.
By Leslie Morgan Steiner |
February 5, 2007; 7:00 AM ET
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