W Post: Take Two on Time Off (workers' rights advocates and the Bush administration are battling)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/23/AR2008042303379.html?hpid=topnews

Sweeping Changes Debated for Landmark Family and Medical Leave Act

By Nancy Trejos
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 24, 2008; Page D01

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the landmark Family and Medical Leave Act, which made it possible for many workers to take unpaid job-protected time off to care for their newborn children or sick relatives. But instead of celebrating, workers' rights advocates and the Bush administration are battling over what would be the most sweeping revisions ever to the law.


Chante Lasco, whose employer would not pay for her maternity leave, favors efforts by Democrats to provide some paid leave. (By Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)

Under proposals being considered by the Labor Department, workers would have to tell their bosses in advance when they take nonemergency leave, instead of being able to wait until two days after they left. They would have to undergo "fitness-for-duty" evaluations if they took intermittent leave for medical reasons and wanted to return to physically demanding jobs. To prove that they had a "serious health condition," they would have to visit a health-care provider at least twice within a month of falling ill. What's more, employers would have the right to contact health-care providers who authorized leave.

These and other proposed changes have set off a fierce debate. More than 4,000 comments were submitted to the Labor Department as of Friday, April 11, the deadline for the public to weigh in. They came from labor unions, religious organizations, women's rights groups, small and large business owners and employees across the country.

There were queries such as these, from Rita Palmer at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas: "What alternative does an employer have when an employee must leave the country for an ill parent? What if abuse is suspected? We had an employee leave for Italy every summer and submitted a WH-380 from the mother's attending physician."

And pleas, such as these, from Richard Kirk, chief steward of the Sacramento Area Local American Postal Workers Union: "Given the outsourcing and the loss of jobs overseas, Americans must hold on to what we have today, for fear of losing it tomorrow. FMLA is but one way to ensure employees have a 'balanced' playing field."

At the crux of it all, said advocates of the FMLA and of its revisions, is the uncertainty fostered by the wobbly economy. Workers want assurances that their jobs will be safe even when they have family or medical emergencies. Businesses want to make sure they are operating efficiently, getting the most for their money.

FULL story at link.