Family And Medical

BOSTON -- My friend has had another attack of the political rants. She comes down with them at least once every four years -- the way a golfer comes down with the shanks. Only her rants tend to fly straight down the middle of the campaign fairway.Her subject today is what she calls women's terminal gratitude: Too many women regard presidential candidates the way they regard their husbands.Every time their husband changes a diaper in the middle of the night, they say thank you. Every time a candidate tips his hat in the general direction of work and family issues, they blush with sheer delight at being noticed.

This month marks the 20th anniversary of the U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act. The 1993 act is a federal law requiring employers to provide employees 12 weeks of unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reasons, including pregnancy. On this anniversary, we should reflect on how the U.S. is unacceptably lagging behind on parental leave and on what we should do to overcome this gap. Researchers at McGill University's Institute for Health and Social Policy compared policies across the globe and found that among the 173 countries studied, five did not offer any paid parental leave.

WASHINGTON - A divided U.S. Supreme Court struck down yesterday a federal rule that penalized employers for failing to inform workers of their rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The Labor Department rule was aimed at employers who don't tell workers on leave that the time will count against the 12 weeks of guaranteed leave under federal law. The rule gave those employees an additional 12 weeks off. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for...

I work for a private company that links merit raises to attendance. I feel my employer unfairly penalized me for a three-month leave I took to recover from a serious illness. I went out under the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the company maintained my benefits and my job. But I lost a substantial portion of a merit raise for 2005, and I'm wondering if the company made a mistake. I thought that between the FMLA and my stellar record, I would get the full merit raise. Am I right? I don't think so. Timing is key. If you had earned the full merit raise before your time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the company couldn't have legally reduced it simply because you didn't have perfect attendance.

WASHINGTON -- Anticipating strong support from Bill and Hillary Clinton, congressional advocates of family and children's issues said yesterday they expect there will be "a new, family-friendly Washington" in 1993.With Congress convening today, they predicted swift enactment of the Family and Medical Leave Act and more money for children's immunizations, the Head Start preschool program and other services."I really think we've got a chance of getting some momentum" and making children "a power issue," declared Rep. Patricia Schroeder, D-Colo.

WASHINGTON -- Since its enactment three years ago, the Family and Medical Leave Act has allowed employees leave to care for a newborn, a sick relative or for their own serious illnesses without placing a heavy burden on employers, according to a report released to Congress yesterday by a bipartisan commission.The law, which guarantees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, had come under fire before its passage from some businesses that said it amounted to an unneeded government intrusion that would cost them dearly in time and money.

I work for a private company that links merit raises to attendance. I feel my employer unfairly penalized me for a three-month leave I took to recover from a serious illness. I went out under the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the company maintained my benefits and my job. But I lost a substantial portion of a merit raise for 2005, and I'm wondering if the company made a mistake. I thought that between the FMLA and my stellar record, I would get the full merit raise. Am I right? I don't think so. Timing is key. If you had earned the full merit raise before your time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the company couldn't have legally reduced it simply because you didn't have perfect attendance.

When his wife was pregnant with their first child last year, Christopher Given, a longtime oil company employee in Houston, heard a news report about a new federal law allowing many workers unpaid leave and continued health benefits for such events as the birth of a child.Mr. Given, 36, who says he attended every prenatal check-up with his wife and hopes to be a 50/50 partner in the rearing oftheir child, made mental note of the news item.Several months later, he applied for leave and was able to witness the birth of Christopher Jr. and to spend the first 2 1/2 months of his young son's life being a full-time dad.Then, Mr. Given says, the other shoe dropped.

My husband and I are adopting a child from Russia. We don't have definite travel dates yet, but could get the word within the next few weeks. Once we bring our child home, I would like to take a leave of eight to 12 weeks. What rights do I have as an employee of a small firm? I believe the Family and Medical Leave Act applies only to companies with at least 50 employees. Ours is much smaller. My boss doesn't seem receptive to my suggestions, such as letting me work from home or hiring a temp to cover for me. What happens if I leave?

BOSTON -- I hate to say ''I told you so.'' After all, most of the time, a simple ''Nyaah, nyaah'' will do the trick. But today I feel like trilling James Carville's book title: ''We're Right, They're Wrong.''What brings about this attack of gloating is a report just released on the Family and Medical Leave Act, the law passed during the first hopeful weeks of the Clinton administration. It guarantees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to full-time workers in companies with 50 or more employees who need to care for their parents, their spouses, their newborn or newly adopted children, their sick children or themselves.

My husband and I are adopting a child from Russia. We don't have definite travel dates yet, but could get the word within the next few weeks. Once we bring our child home, I would like to take a leave of eight to 12 weeks. What rights do I have as an employee of a small firm? I believe the Family and Medical Leave Act applies only to companies with at least 50 employees. Ours is much smaller. My boss doesn't seem receptive to my suggestions, such as letting me work from home or hiring a temp to cover for me. What happens if I leave?

WASHINGTON - Forcefully rejecting stereotypes about the roles of men and women as caregivers, the Supreme Court refused yesterday to exempt states from a federal law that authorizes employees to sue for back pay if they are denied a leave of absence to care for a sick family member. In an opinion by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the court turned away arguments by Nevada officials that states were immune from lawsuits by employees under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The court said that the law was passed to address historic gender bias in granting leave for family emergencies and that Congress' strong interest in addressing sex discrimination trumps any states' rights concerns.

WASHINGTON - A divided U.S. Supreme Court struck down yesterday a federal rule that penalized employers for failing to inform workers of their rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The Labor Department rule was aimed at employers who don't tell workers on leave that the time will count against the 12 weeks of guaranteed leave under federal law. The rule gave those employees an additional 12 weeks off. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for...

BALTIMORE -- Our unemployment insurance system needs to be reformed. Although most employers pay a payroll tax on all their workers for the purpose, only 38 percent of the unemployed get benefits. Furthermore, the system is subject to abuse, and economists agree that the benefits encourage the jobless to stay unemployed longer. But rather than reform the unemployment insurance system to fix these problems, the Clinton administration wants to put it in the family leave business. The president wants to let parents of newborn or newly adopted children draw unemployment insurance benefits while they're on leave.

PETERBOROUGH, N.H. -- Touching on an anxiety that troubles many working parents -- the difficulty of raising children while also having a fulfilling work life -- former Sen. Bill Bradley proposed yesterday that federal dollars and streamlined state programs be used to ease the strain.Lamenting that "the global economy just doesn't care about the 6: 30 dinner hour," the Democratic presidential hopeful suggested ways that his administration would improve the lives of working parents.He proposed allocating $2.6 billion for various programs, including money to improve child care, an expansion of the popular Family and Medical Leave Act to cover more businesses and provide longer leaves, and $400 million more a year for community colleges.

BOSTON -- My friend has had another attack of the political rants. She comes down with them at least once every four years -- the way a golfer comes down with the shanks. Only her rants tend to fly straight down the middle of the campaign fairway.Her subject today is what she calls women's terminal gratitude: Too many women regard presidential candidates the way they regard their husbands.Every time their husband changes a diaper in the middle of the night, they say thank you. Every time a candidate tips his hat in the general direction of work and family issues, they blush with sheer delight at being noticed.

WASHINGTON -- Republican Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett has voted consistently for small-business interests, unlike Democratic Reps. Benjamin L. Cardin and Kweisi Mfume, according to a recent report by the the National Federation of Independent Business.The report rated Congress members on key votes cast during 1993 and early 1994.Eight votes were studied for House members; 13 for senators.Among the issues surveyed last week by the group -- the largest small-business federation in the country -- were family and medical leave, tax increases and deficit reduction, and property rights.

Workers used to worry that if they took time off for family or medical reasons, they would get fired. Now a federal law guarantees that you can be out for up to 12 weeks per year in certain cases and still have a job. Unfortunately, it isn't always that easy.Many businesses don't like the Family and Medical Leave Act. While it's illegal for them to punish you for taking leave, companies have found legal ways to, in effect, do just that.In a nutshell, the law protects most people who work for a company with 50 or more employees and have clocked at least 1,250 hours during the past year.

BOSTON -- I hate to say ''I told you so.'' After all, most of the time, a simple ''Nyaah, nyaah'' will do the trick. But today I feel like trilling James Carville's book title: ''We're Right, They're Wrong.''What brings about this attack of gloating is a report just released on the Family and Medical Leave Act, the law passed during the first hopeful weeks of the Clinton administration. It guarantees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to full-time workers in companies with 50 or more employees who need to care for their parents, their spouses, their newborn or newly adopted children, their sick children or themselves.

WASHINGTON -- Since its enactment three years ago, the Family and Medical Leave Act has allowed employees leave to care for a newborn, a sick relative or for their own serious illnesses without placing a heavy burden on employers, according to a report released to Congress yesterday by a bipartisan commission.The law, which guarantees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, had come under fire before its passage from some businesses that said it amounted to an unneeded government intrusion that would cost them dearly in time and money.