Maternity/Paternity Leave
Easing the Parenthood Pinch:
A Plan for Modernizing the American Attitude towards Parental Leave
Americans pride themselves on their high standing in the developed world. We have a strong government, a premier military, a vibrant and diverse culture, and a significant presence in the world economy. Despite these advantages, many Americans find themselves woefully behind the other nations of the world regarding an issue that should lie at the heart of our society -- how we value our children and how we treat those responsible for raising them. During the rapid growth of the American economy in the 20th century, the impact of a competitive and demanding job market on working parents was rarely acknowledged, let alone legislated. As a result, America now finds itself among only three other nations (Swaziland, Papua New Guinea, and Lesotho) who refuse to provide government-mandated paid leave to parents with newborns (Moms Rising). This has put significant stress not only on the mental, emotional, and financial well-being of working parents, but also on the physical and behavioral development of our nation's children. Unless we reform the policies that govern our treatment of these parents and their children, we run the risk of stymieing our future potential and destroying the legendary work ethic that has so long fueled our national growth.
The history of job-protected family leave in the United States is relatively short. Before 1993, whether a new mother was able to take time off of work to care for her newborn without the risk of losing her job was entirely subject to the discretion...
Though the employee's husband did spend nearly four weeks being involved in the healing ministry, "nearly half of the trip was spent not in faith healing, but visiting friends, family, and local churches" (FEPG). The bottom line is that the FMLA won't permit employees to take leave when it is a vacation with a "seriously ill spouse" -- even if caring for the spouse is an "incidental consequence" of bringing
Family Medical Leave Act Before the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was signed into law in 1993, the United States was among the few industrialized nations with no such legislation in place. Employees had to make do with piecemeal legislation, such as the Pregnancy Discrimination Act or with leaves won through union contracts or policies with more enlightened employers. The FMLA, however, was a controversial piece of legislation. On one side, employers
Family Medical Leave Act gives the right to eligible employees to get unpaid and job protected leave from their employers for their family and medical reasons. According to FMLA if employees are eligible then they can take 12 workweeks leaves in a year. Employees take these leave if they are facing serious health problems. Under this Act employers are required to give unpaid leave to employees for family and medical
One reason for the lack of impact, according to the study, is that few employees can afford to take advantage of the law's unpaid leave provisions ("Family Leave Act has little impact," 1994, p. 4) Not only do employers have to now contend with making sure they are following all of the regulations and rules under the FMLA, they too must deal with the increased number of court cases evident
FMLA Family Medical Leave Act Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993, 29 U.S.C.S. § 2611-2654, certain employees are guaranteed up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave per year in order to attend to personal medical problems or medical problems experienced by certain eligible members of their family. In order to be an eligible employee under qualify under § 2611, an employee must have worked for at least 12
" The same trend is occurring in the public sector though not as quickly and not on such a wide scale. Currently there are just under 300 colleges, 150 city and county governments and 13 state governments offering their employees domestic partner benefits that are equal to the benefits provided to their married employees. One of the benefits of including domestic partners in company benefit packages is that it helps to boost
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