The Family and Medical Leave Act was passed by the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division in the year 1993. The act, as quoted from the Department of Labor, “entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons.” (WHD) As portrayed by this definition, an employee can only take this leave of absence for particular reasons outlined under the act, and both the employer as well as the employee have to meet certain criteria before the FMLA is actually pertinent to the given situation. Examining the specifications of this piece of legislation, the specific reasons given for an employee to take leave of absence via the FMLA include: the birth, adoption, or placement …show more content…
of a child into the individual’s family; as well as the event of illness to the particular employee or to an immediate family member of said employee. For the particular employee to be a qualified candidate under the FMLA, the employee must have been employed with his/her organization for at least a year and the employee must have worked at least 1,250 within the previous twelve months. (Rue, et al) Naturally, an individual must also work for an employer who is covered by the act in order to be qualified; the employers covered by the FMLA include all private-sector organizations with fifty or more employees as well as all public agencies at the federal, state, and local levels. (WHD, Fact Sheet #28) The intent behind the passage of the FMLA was to provide job security to individuals facing various family obligations or health-related issues that warranted the need for a prolonged absence for work.
It was designed to enable employees to create a work/life balance that promoted both “stability and economic security” for US workers and their families. Prior to the passage of this act, employees commonly lost their jobs when they became seriously ill or whenever they needed to take a prolonged absence from work for any other multitude of family and health-related reasons. While the passage of the FMLA was celebrated across the country as a major victory for employee welfare, the act’s passage was also particularly seen as a major victory for enabling women to be successful in the workplace. Pre-FMLA, women routinely lost their jobs when they needed time off of work to have a child or requested an extended leave of absence from work to bond with their new baby; worse yet, this lack of job security even forced some women to endanger their own health by attempting to return to work too soon after childbirth- women across the country were haunted by the knowledge that the longer a leave was requested, the more likely it was that she would either lose her job or face demotion. By these counts, the FMLA has had a monumental impact on increasing both employee well-being and the level of diversity within the American labor force. (Labor Law …show more content…
Center) Like any piece of legislation, though, the FMLA has been subject to debate ever since the act’s passage in 1993.
Over the years, many Americans have pointed out the successes of the act- such as the generally positive impact that the act has had on employee absenteeism, turnover, and morale, that tend to come about with little to no negative impact on the employers themselves. (WHD: Survey Factsheet). Yet, an alternative perspective of the FMLA views the act as unnecessary and believes that the FMLA is actually hindrance upon employers who should be able to set their own policies and agendas on the subject of employee leave. Lastly, some people even tend to argue that the FMLA fails to go far enough into protecting employee well-being. In recent years, an increasing number of Americans have called for a revision of our current FMLA, citing a desire to institute a more comprehensive leave act with expanded employer coverage, looser requirements for employee leave, and even the desire to institute a paid leave system, as opposed to this current unpaid leave system.
(Garofalo)
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave and job protection for childbirth, adoption or foster care; to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, or parent; or for an employee’s own serious illness (Cañas & Sondak, 2011). It also requires that their group health benefits remain intact during the unpaid leave of absence. The employee must have worked for the employer for at least a year and must have earned 1,250 hours of service during the previous 12 months ((Cañas & Sondak, 2011, pg. 70).
Bennett-Alexander, Dawn D. & Hartman, Laura P. (2001). Employment Law for Business (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Primis Custom Publishing. Downloaded February 4, 2008 from the data base of http://www.eeoc.gov
The FMLA was passed to help families in the time of a crisis so that the individuals would not have to choose between work and personal responsibilities. The eligible employees are permitted to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. The leave can last up to twelve workweeks in any twelve-month period. Reasons for leave include: pregnancy, prenatal complications, adoption/ fostering of a child, hospitalization, care of an immediate family member, or a health condition that makes the employee unable to do his or her job (Solis). This law applies to any employer “engaging in commerce” ...
In response to the increasing need for employees to balance the demands of the workplace with the needs of families, Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act. Without a policy like FMLA in place, many employees often would have had to choose between “the job they need and the family they love” (Hayes). The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 is the first national law created to help Americans balance the demands of the workplace with the needs of the family. It successfully helps bridge the gap between family and work and secures the right for both men and women to get unpaid leave and assistance when dealing with family related circumstances.
Overall the Family and Medical Leave Act has raised many issues on whether leave should be encourage and/or paid for by the employers. As of today, no haven policy has been enacted to tackle the challenges surrounding this issue, but positive steps have been taken and one day there will be no question that hard working employees will get the rights they
The Family and Medical Aid Act (FLMA), of 1993, provides for 12 weeks of unpaid, job protected leave for certain specified events (8). Whilst one could refer to this as maternity or paternity leave if taken because of a pregnancy, this would not be strictly true. Where maternity and paternity leave are offered around the world, they are separate from any other leave due to medical or family reasons. The leave in the U.S. provided through the FLMA is also, as mentioned, unpaid. This creates a number of issues for the expectant family as, regardless of their job being safe for the time taken off, without the income it may be harder to look after the new born child as a couple of unpaid parents, than one parent not taking leave, or neither taking leave and relying on relatives to care for the child as much as possible.
Women have the wonderful ability to bring a new life into this world and are granted maternity leave, a certain amount of time after birth to be away from the labor force. However, maternity leave was not always available to women because of the low levels of employed and educated females. In 1978 changing gender norms and increased female labor involvement influenced the passing of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act prohibiting employment discrimination of women due to pregnancy (Smith, Downs, and O’Connell 3). After this legislation, a higher percentage of women in the United States were not only educated but also employed. In 1987, a critical Supreme Court case (California Federal Savings and Loan Association v. Guerra) in California defined
Having said that, it is high time for a more effective and inclusive family leave policy to take effect. Even with private sectors and some states offering paid leave, 40 percent of American women do not enjoy the benefits (Wares). The Family and Medical Leave Act, although utilized widely, does not encompass all working American women/ because of its strict prerequisites, many women find themselves paying the motherhood penalty with unpaid leave, or not taking any leave at all, which jeopardizes their health and their child’s early
With the rise of the modern age economic survival has become difficult for families based on a single income. This economic need along with modern attitudes toward gender equality has resulted in women being represented in the workforce in greater numbers. However, until the 1960’s women faced severe discrimination when trying to enter and maintain a position in the workforce. Often qualified women would be passed over for men with less experience and education. Employers were fearful that women were too emotional and were not equipped to handle the stress of the work environment. Also driving the decision to not hire or promote women was the concern over the additional health care expenses and leave time pregnant employees would require. The road to equal treatment of women in the workforce would begin with the passage of Civil Rights Act of 1964, specifically the portion entitled Title VII. While Title VII offered women some projection against discrimination in the workforce the ambiguity of the law would prevent protection on one key area: pregnancy. The legislation that would remove the final discriminatory roadblock to woman in the workforce would come from the passage of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. This momentous act would extend the coverage of Title VII and prevent discrimination of women in employment due to a pregnancy and pregnancy related complications. While the law may have stemmed from a controversial decision by the Supreme Court
While the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act theoretically guarantees all workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a new child or sick family member, it applies only to businesses with more than 50 employees, only covers workers that have been with their employer for at least one year, and doesn’t extend to part-time workers. These exemptions are significant; they ensure that just over half of American workers and less than a fifth of all new mothers are actually covered by FMLA. And they disproportionately affect low-income workers, who are more likely to work for small businesses, change employers frequently, and piece together multiple part-time
“The Family and Medical Leave Act provides certain employees with up to twelve weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year.” FMLA is to help employees balance their family and work responsibilities. FMLA only applies to employees who have met certain requirements. “Some requirement that must be met are the employee has to work for a covered employer, has worked 1,250 hours prior to the start of the leave, work at a location where the employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles and has worked for the employer for twelve months.” Some reasons to take leave include the birth of a son or daughter, placement of a son or daughter with the employee for adoption or foster care, to care for a family member who has a serious medical condition,
In practice, the Family Medical Leave Act entitles eligible workers to up to twelve weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave with healthcare benefits on an annual basis. The leave can be utilized to address the individual’s serious health concerns or to care for selected immediate family members such as disabled parents, spouses, or children (Jorgenson, Appelbaum, 2014). Additionally, workers are able to maintain their healthcare coverage and must be reinstated to a similar position with similar pay at the end of their leave (Morris, 2014). Despite notable efforts to provide relief for caregivers, the provisions offered under FMLA are significantly limited in practice. only required of businesses in the private sector if they employee more than
United States of America. National Employment Law Project. National Employment Law Project. N.p., Jan. 2011. Web. 18 May 2014.
The Family Medical Leave Act first became effective on August 5, 1993. It was designed to help balance the employee's family needs and work responsibilities. FMLA can only apply to employees who have met certain requirements. “Some requirements that must be met are the employee has to work for a covered employer, has worked 1,250 hours prior to the start of the leave, works at a location where the employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles and has worked for the employer for twelve months.” FMLA only applies to immediate family such as parents, spouses or children. Reasons to take leave could include but are not limited to, the birth of a son or daughter, placement of child within the hands of the employee or adoption or foster care,
It is time we stop treating child care as a side issue or a women’s issue, and treat it like the priority that it is. Paternity leave is good for women's careers. “When childcare responsibilities fall exclusively on the mother, the effect is to reduce women’s wages. Time out of the labor force deprives women of experience and promotions. When men shoulder more of the childcare burden, the effect is lessened (“The Benefits of Paternity Leave”).” Paid family leave has become an important way to signal to employees that the company is invested in them. People feel their company is committed to them in the long term. Overall, paid family leave helps keep people in the workforce after they have children. “When more workers are able to take leave, they are more likely to choose to remain in the labor market. Paid parental leave is associated with higher employment in economies around the world (Covert)”.