One of the most profound challenges for working fathers and working mothers is balancing the time they need to spend working with the time they need to spend taking care of their children. To address this, Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act to help dads and moms balance their work and family needs. However, many say that the leave that legislation has provided for is insufficient. For that reason, they are seeking to institutionalize paid leave with a new law called the Family and Medical Leave Act, referred to by many as simply the FAMILY Act.
That legislation was introduced last December by a U.S. Senator and a U.S. Representative. If it passed, it would establish a national insurance to cover paid leave. Workers taking leave for family or medical reasons would be entitled to a percentage of their wages for a period of up to 12 weeks. This would allow many workers who could not afford to take unpaid leave to finally attend to medical and family needs properly.
Reasons for taking the leave could include recovering from serious health conditions, taking care of a newborn baby or newly adopted child, taking care of an ill family member or attending to a relative injured in the line of duty as a member of the United States military.
While many want to look closely at the FAMILY Act and determine exactly how much leave each person will get and under what conditions, there is no question that paid leave is something many workers want. Regardless of the form it takes, that leave will be pursued by working fathers and working mothers who value their families as well as their jobs. Those who want to know their rights in regards to leave can learn more from an employment attorney.
Source: The Hill, “The FAMILY Act is smart policy, not just smart politics” Vicki Shabo, Oct. 09, 2014
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