New FMLA Rules Hurt Families

November 17, 2008

The Bush Administration has just issued new rules for the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which are designed to make it harder for workers to use leave when they need to take care of themselves or family members. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney issued the following statement on these new regulations:

Today’s eleventh-hour move by the Bush Administration to weaken the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is another slap in the face to working families who are struggling just to get by in the midst of an unprecedented economic crisis. It’s reprehensible – but all too predictable – that the Bush Administration would use its final days in office to give business interests one more gift by placing more hurdles in front of workers who need to care for their families. Since the FMLA’s inception in 1993, workers have taken the leave they needed more than 100 million times, making it one of the most successful pro-worker laws in history. While the regulations implementing the new FMLA provisions on military family leave are largely viewed as a positive step, the Administration could have been more generous, and there is still work to be done to make sure that military families get the help they need. The other revisions would generally restrict workers’ ability to access paid leave without putting their jobs at risk. Given the worsening economic situation facing families, we should be talking about how to expand successful laws like the FMLA to provide workers more job security and flexibility to deal with urgent family situations, not less.

Read more at the AFL-CIO Now blog.