Unpaid Leave

Federal regulators have proposed relatively minor changes to the popular Family and Medical Leave Act, a relief for advocates who had feared a sweeping rewrite that would have made it difficult for people to take advantage of it. The proposals, released this month by the Department of Labor, would give employers more leeway in verifying that people taking medical leave are sick. The proposals would impose other restrictions that business groups said might curb what they see as a major problem: employees who leave their bosses short-handed on short notice.

WASHINGTON -- Challenging President Bush to support family values on the eve of the Republican convention, the Senate yesterday approved a bill that would require employers to grant unpaid leave for childbirth and family emergencies.Mr. Bush vetoed an earlier version of the bill, insisting that government should not dictate to employers. But family-leave backers hope election-year pressures will force him to change his mind on a popular issue.Mr. Bush's "failure to support this is failure to reinforce what is a very important part of his platform," said Sen. Christopher S. Bond, R-Mo.

FATHER'S DAY 1998 reminds us that society expects more of fathers, and fathers expect more of society, than in previous generations. More fathers are taking greater responsibility for their children's upbringing -- and assuming primary care-giving roles.Social attitudes are changing slowly to recognize the father's role as more than breadwinner and disciplinarian. A major force is the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows workers to take up to 12 weeks unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child.

WASHINGTON -- When the federal government regulates business, the message often seems to be: Do as we say, not as we do.But under the proposed Family and Medical Leave Act, the government would give its workers the same benefits that employers in the rest of the country would give theirs.The bill, as approved by House and Senate committees last week, would give each federal employee up to 12 weeks a year of unpaid leave to care for a newborn or newly adopted child. Federal workers also would be able to take time off to care for a sick child, spouse or parent, or to recuperate from an illness.

School officials, responding to concerns about a proposal to upgradetraining for health assistants, have formed a committee to study thematter further.Included on the committee are officials from the Carroll Association of School Employees, which represents health aides, as well as clerical and secretarial workers and licensed practicalnurses.The committee will meet during the summer and is expected to submit a proposal to the school board this fall, Superintendent R. EdwardShilling said.

Just as it opens a new headquarters in Rockville, Manugistics Group Inc. has told its employees who are to work there not to show up for a week because it can't afford to pay them. The software company, which expects to be fully moved into its new headquarters this week, informed U.S. employees not to come to work the week of July 1 as part of an unpaid leave program to save the company money, said Manugistics spokeswoman Didi Blackwood. Manugistics employs about 1,500, of whom 1,200 are in the United States.

The Annapolis City Council will decide tonight whether to extend a 1984 court order calling for minority hiring and promotion in the police department.The order, called a consent decree, has been extended three times and is set to expire next month.The 6-year-old order resulted from a lawsuit by the Black Officers Association charging discrimination in the department. When the decree was issued, 11 percent of the department's officers were black and 7 percent were women. The decree calls for 25 percent of the department's officers to be black and 16 percent to be women.

Job leave applies to grandparents Q: I am a grandparent who will be parenting my new grandson when he is born. Is there any way that I could be eligible for leave from my job since I will be the parent? L.M., via the Internet A: There is a good chance you could be eligible for unpaid leave from your job. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides that employers with 50 or more workers must allow employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a newborn child.

Annapolis city employees may be able to take off up to 12 weeks to care for children or ill family members if the City Council approves a bill proposed by Alderman Ellen O. Moyer, D-Ward 8.The bill would let employees take the unpaid leave to care for a newborn or newly adopted child, a foster child, or an ill child, spouse, parent or other dependent. The legislation also would allow parents time off during school vacations to care for children up to age 14."It recognizes the importance of the family," Moyer told the council's rules committee Monday night.

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.