Government May Tinker With FMLA
by
Kiosan
on Thu 07 Dec 2006 09:30 AM EST
Like most people, I have this internal barometer that slides up or down as I read news stories. This particular item set that indicator a-fluttering, bouncing up and down like a cake-high 5 year old at an all-out birthday bash:
Family leave is on my mind this week because of a
chilling little note
in the Federal Register. It seems that the Labor Department is
interested in hearing people's experience with the Family and Medical
Leave Act, the grand 1993 compromise that (finally) codified the right
of people to stay home with their newborns or care for ailing family
members (usually). (
WaPo)
Whenever one of the arms of this particular administration begin reaching for things, my hackles rise. Call it Pavlovian, but historic repetition of complete and utter disregard for what "the people" think or need in favor of what the political apex momentarily hankers for has taught me that when this government begins to ask about a program which benefits working families more than it benefits corporations or the wealthy, then that program is not long for this world.
Brian Reid, the author of the WaPo article, also wondered what this meant, and found an AP story (quoted from the WaPo text):
"This is meant to be a very objective review," Victoria
Lipnic, assistant secretary for the Labor Department's Employment
Standards Administration, said in an interview with The Associated
Press.
"We're genuinely in search of information and having looked
at the issues now for a number of years ... it became apparent we
really needed some fresh thinking on this. I am hoping that is what all
of this will yield," she said.
Hmm, "fresh thinking," eh? Like Mr. Reid, I would love to see some "fresh thinking" which included paid leave under FMLA (which is currently unpaid), extended the leave, expanded protections (both in people covered and in specific job-protection). I'd also like to see some creative solutions to the problems inherent in being both a medical caregiver and a wage-earner, such as mandating that companies which offer telecommuting options to employees should also offer that option, on a trial basis (say, 30 days to begin, with the option to reevaluate and continue in 30 day increments) to employees in good standing applying for FMLA-covered leave.
However, the Pavlovian response rises again, and I cannot help but wonder if the fears of a couple of years ago, that the
Bush administration would attempt to gut FMLA in its continuing war against working families, were prescient and that, politically wounded as the cur is, he lashes out now to grab his petty revenge against a nation which repudiated him. After all, the hard right, which still supports the guy, usually "encourages" women to stay at home, rendering largely FMLA moot for their own families (when taken with the fundamentalist view that women should stay at home and be caregivers, while men should work and be heads of the house, and never the twain shall meet) and, as anything that benefits women who work outside the home over women who do not must come from Satan and cannot, therefore, be used, targeting the law would do real, painful damage to those uppity folks who had the nerve to oppose the Supreme Will of the self-styled demigod that is George Bush.
Or maybe not. I really don't know. The "chilling little note" reads as follows:
SUMMARY: This notice requests comments related to the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (the ``FMLA'' or the ``Act''). The Employment Standards Administration, Wage and Hour Division, of the Department of Labor (the ``Department'') seeks information for its consideration and review of the Department's administration of the Act and implementing regulations.
The Department held stakeholder meetings regarding the FMLA with more than 20 groups from December 2002-February 2003. Many of the subject matter areas in this request are derived from comments at those stakeholder meetings and also from
(1) rulings of the Supreme Court of the United States and other federal courts over the past twelve years;
(2) the Department's experience in administering the law; and
(3) public input presented in numerous Congressional hearings and public comments filed with the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') in connection with three annual reports to Congress regarding the Costs and Benefits of Federal regulations in 2001, 2002, 2004.
In addition, the Department has reviewed numerous source materials about issues associated with the FMLA. During this process, the Department has heard a variety of concerns expressed about the FMLA. Some of those concerns, however, are beyond the Department's statutory authority to address. Some are not. In this regard, the Department invites interested parties having knowledge of, or experience with, the FMLA to submit comments and welcomes any pertinent information that will provide a basis for ascertaining the effectiveness of the current implementing regulations and the Department's administration of the Act. The questions posed are not meant to be an exclusive list of issues for which the Department seeks commentary and information.
The deadline for comments is 5:00PM EST, February 2, 2007. If you've some experience with FMLA, please send a note to the Labor Department at
whdcomments@dol.gov. Fresh thinking doesn't have to equal a net negative, and I'll be happy to provide my input if it means protecting and/or expanding protections for working families.
