WASHINGTON, Feb. 8, 2008
Tighter Time-Off Rules Proposed
Labor Department Considers Changes In Family And Medical Leave Act
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(CBS/AP)
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Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, employees can wait as long as two days after their shift begins to notify employers they are claiming time. The Labor Department wants to end that practice except for emergencies.
"The default rule is that you must contact employers ahead of time," Assistant Labor Secretary Victoria A. Lipnic said.
That change, which was sought by businesses that complained about workers unexpectedly not showing up, is one of several the Labor Department wants to make under the 15-year-old act. The proposed changes become public Friday.
The law grants eligible workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period for such things as caring for a newborn or a sick family member, or because the employee has a serious health condition. It generally covers employers with 50 or more employees. Seven million people took FMLA leave in 2005, the latest year for which data is available.
Congress planned to review the proposed regulations, the first changes since the law was passed in 1993.
"While the Department of Labor's proposal may not dismantle the landmark Family and Medical Leave Act as some in the business community wanted, the proposal clearly benefits employers at the expense of workers," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.
One of Miller's subcommittees planned to hold a hearing on Feb. 15, while a subcommittee of Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's Labor Committee scheduled its own hearing for Feb. 13.
"I am deeply concerned that the administration's rules will make it more difficult for workers to take medical leave when they need it, and will impose unnecessary burdens on those who rely on the FMLA's protections," Kennedy said.
The Labor Department also wants to:
The Labor Department's 500 pages of changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act were to be released Friday. They were scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Monday and would be available for public comment for 60 days.
Labor Department officials hope to get final regulations before the end of the year.
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Industry and employee advocacy groups said they had not yet seen the proposed changes.I am deeply concerned that the administration's rules will make it more difficult for workers to take medical leave when they need it, and will impose unnecessary burdens on those who rely on the FMLA's protections.
Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass."Until you see the details, you can't make much of a judgment," said Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families. "We've seen all kinds of ways where things that sound reasonable can become difficult hurdles."
Jason Straczewski, the National Association of Manufacturers' director of labor and work force, was more upbeat. "Right now, from what I've heard about it, it sounds like there are going to be some good commonsense reforms in this proposal," he said.
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- How do they propose to bring the Senators and Congressmen under control? They waste more of the taxpayers money they anyother single group.
- Reply to this comment
- The FMLA does protect workers from losing their jobs simply by giving permission for the Family Medical LEAVE. As for emergency situations, any who abuse this woul be easily identifiable...and any employer who is bound by FMLA regulations MUST comply with it.
Posted by Cas2dy at 04:55 PM : Feb 08, 2008
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You are WRONG! DEAD Wrong and if the changes proposed are put into place it could get worse. Employers are only required to provide the same or "Simular" job for the employee. The word "simular" is left up to the Boss. Unless you are in a Union Shop you must depend on the Department of labor to enforce the regulations and under Bush the Department of Labor has, for all intents, never existed until now that Corporations need them. - Reply to this comment
- Attorneys and employers here in Chicago ignore the Department Labor anyway, these bureaucrats are trying to make believe they are not worthless.
- Reply to this comment
- conservative are all about families. they can''t shut up about how important families are. unless, of course, money is at stake, in which case you and your family can go screw yourselves.
- Reply to this comment
- Posted by walt1944 :
The Labor Department of the Great Emperor Bush II is demanding that employees notify their employers IN ADVANCE, if they intend or getting pregnant, getting seriously sick such as having a heart attack or stroke, or passing out on the spot and allow employers to, essentially, determine if someone can come back to work (in effect, give them power to diagnose medical conditions!).
Strangely enough, there is no mention that an employee''''s job will be waiting for him/her when he/she is ready to return to work (even if their doctor says they can)! It all goes to prove that in the world of the Great Emperor Bush II, NOTHING is nailed down, chiseled in stone, or cast in steel, ESPECIALLY when it comes to the "under privilieged"!
The FMLA does protect workers from losing their jobs simply by giving permission for the Family Medical LEAVE. As for emergency situations, any who abuse this woul be easily identifiable...and any employer who is bound by FMLA regulations MUST comply with it. - Reply to this comment
- %u201Cdemanding that employees notify their employers IN ADVANCE, if they intend or getting pregnant, getting seriously sick such as having a heart attack or stroke, or passing out on the spot%u201D Posted by walt1944
Read the very first sentence again, walt. It states %u201Ctell their bosses in advance when they take non-emergency leave%u201D Heart attacks and strokes sound like emergencies to me. - Reply to this comment
- The Labor Department of the Great Emperor Bush II is demanding that employees notify their employers IN ADVANCE, if they intend or getting pregnant, getting seriously sick such as having a heart attack or stroke, or passing out on the spot and allow employers to, essentially, determine if someone can come back to work (in effect, give them power to diagnose medical conditions!).
Strangely enough, there is no mention that an employee''s job will be waiting for him/her when he/she is ready to return to work (even if their doctor says they can)! It all goes to prove that in the world of the Great Emperor Bush II, NOTHING is nailed down, chiseled in stone, or cast in steel, ESPECIALLY when it comes to the "under privilieged"!
SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!! - Reply to this comment
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
