But the Bush administration\'s June 27 announcement said while DOL "has no proposals for changing the rules," it also advocates "fuller discussion" of how the act has actually worked in workplaces nationwide.
And that "fuller discussion" leaves the door open for business to continue its campaign to weaken family leave, a longtime advocate warns.
Unions and Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., pushed FMLA through Congress after a decade-long fight and two vetoes by GOP President George H.W. Bush, father of the present president. FMLA was the first law President Bill Clinton signed in 1993.
FMLA gives workers in any firm with at least 50 employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid family leave yearly, to care for themselves, sick children or aging parents, with the right to return to their jobs. Dodd and other lawmakers recently introduced legislation advo-cating six weeks of paid family leave. More than 100 other nations have paid leave.
Bush\'s DOL, catering to its business backers, sought comments on how FMLA works, and particularly problems with it. Businesses complained about many difficulties, especially workers who take "irregular" leave for short periods of time and medical rules that wouldn\'t let businesses deny workers leave, among other flaws.
Backers of FMLA said those complaints were a smokescreen for business\' real goal: To return to the days before 1993, when there was no family leave at all.
Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families -- and a key drafter of the law -- said the Labor Department\'s report on the comments it got "reaffirms what more than 60 million Americans know firsthand: FMLA is a law we need, a law that works well, and a law that benefits both families and businesses."
But the DOL report, she added, was full of "opinions and anecdotes…many submitted by parties (business) that have long opposed the FMLA and every measure that helps workers meet the demands of work and family.
"We are gravely concerned the department will follow this report with regulations designed to roll back FMLA protections," Ness warned. "There is simply no justification for doing so." She noted California preceded the federal government in enacting paid family leave. Washington state recently enacted paid leave for parents of newborns.
This article was written by Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.
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But the Bush administration\’s June 27 announcement said while DOL "has no proposals for changing the rules," it also advocates "fuller discussion" of how the act has actually worked in workplaces nationwide.
And that "fuller discussion" leaves the door open for business to continue its campaign to weaken family leave, a longtime advocate warns.
Unions and Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., pushed FMLA through Congress after a decade-long fight and two vetoes by GOP President George H.W. Bush, father of the present president. FMLA was the first law President Bill Clinton signed in 1993.
FMLA gives workers in any firm with at least 50 employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid family leave yearly, to care for themselves, sick children or aging parents, with the right to return to their jobs. Dodd and other lawmakers recently introduced legislation advo-cating six weeks of paid family leave. More than 100 other nations have paid leave.
Bush\’s DOL, catering to its business backers, sought comments on how FMLA works, and particularly problems with it. Businesses complained about many difficulties, especially workers who take "irregular" leave for short periods of time and medical rules that wouldn\’t let businesses deny workers leave, among other flaws.
Backers of FMLA said those complaints were a smokescreen for business\’ real goal: To return to the days before 1993, when there was no family leave at all.
Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families — and a key drafter of the law — said the Labor Department\’s report on the comments it got "reaffirms what more than 60 million Americans know firsthand: FMLA is a law we need, a law that works well, and a law that benefits both families and businesses."
But the DOL report, she added, was full of "opinions and anecdotes…many submitted by parties (business) that have long opposed the FMLA and every measure that helps workers meet the demands of work and family.
"We are gravely concerned the department will follow this report with regulations designed to roll back FMLA protections," Ness warned. "There is simply no justification for doing so." She noted California preceded the federal government in enacting paid family leave. Washington state recently enacted paid leave for parents of newborns.
This article was written by Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.
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