The Bush administration on Thursday proposed the first changes in more than a decade to regulations that give workers unpaid leave to deal with family or medical emergencies. It said it was trying to address some corporate complaints that workers are abusing the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Under the proposals, workers would generally have to call in to request a leave before taking it; currently, employees can take off for two days before requesting a leave.
The Family and Medical Leave Act, which has been used by an estimated 7 million Americans each year, gives employees at workplaces with 50 or more workers the right to take up to 12 unpaid weeks a year to cope with their own serious health conditions or to care for a newborn, a newly adopted child or a seriously ill child, spouse or parent.
The Labor Department said it also is drafting regulations to put into effect changes that Congress approved for the families of wounded veterans. Under the Defense Authorization Act, which awaits President Bush's signature, relatives would be allowed to take up to six months of unpaid leave to care for wounded military personnel. It also would let workers take up to 12 weeks off for "any qualifying exigency" related to a relative's call-up to active duty or deployment.
Victoria Lipnic, an assistant labor secretary, said the proposed changes are modest. They would allow companies to require that workers call in to request leave before they take it. There would be some exceptions, such as when a worker is too ill to call in.
She said it would allow companies to require doctors to recertify annually -- rather than the current multiyear -- that a worker has a serious condition.
Many business groups had urged the Labor Department to narrow the definition of serious health conditions, because they believed that many workers were taking leaves for minor illnesses. But officials said that should be done by Congress.
Marc Freedman, director of labor law policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said: "We would have liked to see changes" in how the department defines serious health conditions.
Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, said, "We know from anecdotal experience and from the research we've done that the law is working well."
The Labor Department said it hoped the Office of Management and Budget would approve and publish the plan in the next few weeks. The public will have 60 days to comment.
NEW YORK TIMES, AP
