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Running Head: Family Medical Leave Act Action Plan for Policy Changes

Family Medical Leave Act Action Plan for Policy Changes

Howard Derby

Delaware Technical Community College

NUR 420 Nursing Policy

February 23, 2020

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Abstract

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 provides certain employees with up to twelve

weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year while maintaining health benefits. Family Medical

Leave (FML) is designed to help employees balance their work and family responsibilities by

allowing them to take reasonable unpaid leave for certain family and medical reasons (US DOL,

2019). To be an eligible employee for Family Leave, you must have worked for 12 months, had

1,250 hours of service while working, and the employer must have 50 employees within 75

miles. There are also restrictions on the reasons why an employee can take FML. Today’s

society has a broader word for “family” which can include people not blood related or legally

bound. The FMLA statute needs to bend with today’s trends and allow a more discretionary

approach to the application process. It is common sense that being home with family, especially

in times of hardship, provides happiness and positive growth in and outside of the home.

Americans spend enough time working. Changes are needed in the amount of time we spend

with our families and are able to take time off to help the ones we love the most.

Statement of the Problem

Too many workers are either ineligible for FML or cannot afford to take the time off because it

would be unpaid. The policies around FML need to be changed in order to allow employees

more time to take care of their families. An employee who has a family member at home who is

sick, in need of care, or who has a brand-new baby, tend to perform poorly at work since they are

needed more at home. Additionally, there needs to be less restrictions on FML to provide more

eligible employees and less restrictive reasons to take the time off. For example, a person who

has a god child that is in need of care would not be eligible under the FMLA because the god

child is not a “birth of a son or daughter or adoption or foster care” as required by the statute.
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There are numerous families that reside together that are not actually “family” as the FMLA

requires. There should be a more lenient policy and reasoning discretion when FMLA is applied.

Who to Contact

Reaching out to political representatives can be the best voice for change. To be heard on a local

level, Delawareans can contact a representative for their district. The state of Delaware is broken

into forty-one districts with representatives who can advocate and sponsor legislation in that

area. Of course, the internet provides a link to each representative and their accomplishments.

You can choose to contact a representative based on their backgrounds and policy goals.

Delaware’s state elected Governor is John Carney and Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long.

Delaware’s speaker of the House is Peter Schwartzkopf. In addition, Senator Thomas Carper or

Chris Coons, and Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester represent Delaware nationally. The US

representatives take ideas from the state to advocate for big policy changes. A great healthcare

advocate for Delaware would be Bethany Hall-Long, who was Delaware’s first Registered Nurse

to join the Delaware General Assembly.

Current/Pending laws and policies

The Trump administration's fiscal year 2020 budget includes a proposal to establish a

federal state-parental-leave benefit program that would provide six weeks of benefits for

mothers, fathers, and adoptive parents, funded within the unemployment insurance program

(Miller, 2019). With the presidential election this year, family leave should be a top priority.

Some of the measures that have been introduced or may be reintroduced in Congress include:

The Working Parents Flexibility Act, which establishes tax-exempt parental-leave savings

accounts for child care that can be funded by employees and employers; The New Parents Act,

which allows new parents to draw from Social Security for paid leave that lasts one-three months
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in exchange for delaying or reducing future Social Security benefits (Miller, 2019). Parents also

could choose to keep working and use the extra funds to pay for childcare expenses. Similarly,

the Child Rearing and Development Leave Empowerment (CRADLE) Act would let parents

receive up to three months of paid leave by giving them the option to postpone Social Security

benefits, but would require parents to take leave from work in order to receive the benefit

(Miller, 2019). Lastly, the Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act, which provides

partial wage replacement for all FMLA qualifying events funded by a payroll tax on employers

and employees. Support for these programs could provide the support family leave needs in

America. In December 2017, Congress passed tax incentives to employers to voluntarily offer

paid family and medical leave to employees (Congress, 2019).

Strategies for Change

The biggest part of the FMLA that should be changed is the fact that it is mostly unpaid leave.

The largest loophole in the FMLA is that it is unpaid, so many workers who would want to take

advantage of it to care for themselves or a family member, simply cannot afford to (Gould,

2019). Companies need to provide all or partially paid FML so that the employees who need to

take the time off, can actually afford to. Another change would be the eligibility requirements

for FML. Because eligibility for FMLA is limited based on size of firm, work hours, and tenure

at job, the FMLA only provides access to unpaid leave to an estimated 56 percent of the

workforce (Gould, 2019). Changing the eligibility requirements to practically any employee

would be the best strategy, though may not be the most financially sound for the employer.

Talking points

When face to face with the decision makers, proposing a clear solution is the best way to be

understood, although this is not always easy to do. There will be obstacles and pushback. The
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first talking point would be emphasizing the need for paid FML. In the US, workers who need to

address urgent health needs without access to paid FML to replace lost wages, may face a

significant economic burden or forego leave with potentially severe consequences for their or

their family’s health (Joshi, 2019). There are paid FML which some companies cover and is

mostly utilized for maternity/paternity leave. California's FML was the first to provide paid

family leave. California updated its policy in 2016 to include progressive wage replacement

with lower-wage workers receiving a higher wage replacement rate (up to 70%) than higher-

wage workers (up to 60% subject to a benefit cap) (Joshi, 2019). California’s policy could

expand to other states to see its value and application. Results of a study on California’s policy

showed that the worker's estimated wage loss is 27% of family income under six weeks of

unpaid FML over a three-month period, which decreased by 16 percentage points to 11% under a

hypothetical national paid FML policy based on California's program (Joshi, 2019).

Another talking point would include the eligibility requirements under the FMLA. Most FML is

taken by new mother’s which plans differ from 0-6-12 weeks of paid leave and also having your

job and health benefits protected. Recently, there has been word of a more comprehensive

Family Act favored by Democrats, where family leave could be taken by mothers or fathers after

the birth, adoption, or fostering of a new child or to care for a seriously ill family member

(Isaacs, 2019). Research has demonstrated that when fathers take leave, there are positive

consequences for the mother, including fewer days of work lost because of illness, reductions in

depression, and increased earnings (Isaacs, 2019). Extending paid leave to all employees to care

for qualifying relatives could increase morale and attendance overall. Knowing you can have

paid time off with your families could encourage workers to attend work regularly in order to

qualify for the leave.

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An additional talking point is geared towards a national FMLA. Today, U.S. employers face a

growing patchwork of state paid-leave laws, while momentum is building for federal paid-

family-leave legislation (Miller, 2019). Having different employers offer different plans can be

confusing. Employers offer Family Leave benefits because they recognize that paid leave is a

top concern among Millennials, who are raising families and caring for aging relatives and

who will represent more than 75 percent of the workforce within the next decade (Miller, 2019).

It is easy to think that Americans largely support paid leave for new mothers and fathers, as well

as for workers who need to care for a family member with a serious health condition or deal with

their own medical issues. But should the government require employers to offer this benefit or

let them decide for themselves? Momentum is building for a federal paid-leave initiative, but a

deep partisan divide will likely prevent legislation from being passed by the current Congress,

where Democrats hold the House and Republicans control the Senate (Miller, 2019).

The last talking point I would urge if there is not a clear path to a national FMLA, then push for

more state law family caregiving activities that are eligible for family leave insurance. This

could generally include caring for and bonding with a newly arrived child and attending to

serious medical needs of certain close family members. These family caregiving activities could

expand to activities that do not include blood relatives, but people who are considered family by

means of residing with them. Some discretion could be applied for certain situations. In

addition, some states have enacted legislation to create state paid family leave insurance (FLI)

programs, which provide cash benefits to eligible workers who engage in certain caregiving

activities (Congress, 2019). Members of Congress who support increased access to paid leave

generally cite as their motivation the significant and growing difficulties some workers face
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when balancing work and family responsibilities, and the financial challenges faced by many

working families that put unpaid leave out of reach (Congress, 2019).

Goals

To make a change in policies there has to be a voice. Within the next ninety days, writing to

representatives for them to take the FMLA under review, can make a difference. The more

people who write and advocate the bigger the voice and the more likeliness there will be change.

A national policy could address the inadequacies and inequities of current leave options facing

both parents of newborn children. Paid family leave also can improve worker retention, and

employers in states that have implemented such policies are generally neutral or positive toward

public programs of paid family leave (Isaacs, 2019). Future research should continue to

document differential capabilities in workers’ affordability constraints that can limit the benefits

from paid FML in terms of both take-up and the duration of leave.

Conclusion

The ultimate goal is to find change in the FMLA that works for everyone. Having options for

paid leave and less restrictive eligibility requirements is what the employee needs and wants. The

employer may not have those options available but can hopefully work with their employees to

come to an equal road of paid time off when the family is in need the most. Americans spend

way too much time at work and away from their families. When one family member is in need

of support, work should not be the driving force behind the choice to help. Sadly, work dictates

most Americans decisions, including family choices. It is hopeful to accomplish a new FMLA

although building upon existing policies could ease implementation of a new program of paid

family leave.
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References

Congressional Research Service (2019). Paid Family Leave in the United States; CRS Report

Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress. Retrieved from

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44835.pdf\

Gould, E. (2019). Zero weeks plus Ellen Bravo on the importance of paid family and medical

leave; Economic Policy Institute. Retrieved from https://www.epi.org/blog/zero-weeks-

plus-ellen-bravo-on-the-importance-of-paid-family-and-medical-leave/

Isaacs, J., Healy, O. and Peters, E. (2017). Paid Family Leave in the United States; Time for a

new national Policy. Urban Institute. Retrieved from

https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/90201/paid_family_leave_0.pdf

Miller, S. (2019) States Impose Paid Family Leave as Congress Weighs a National Policy.

SHRM urges employers to share their concerns with state and federal lawmakers.

Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/benefits/pages/states-

impose-paid-family-leave-as-congress-weighs-national-policy.aspx

Pamela Joshi, Maura Baldiga, Alison Earle, Rebecca Huber, Theresa Osypuk & Dolores

Acevedo-Garcia (2019) How much would family and medical leave cost workers in the

US? Racial/ethnic variation in economic hardship under unpaid and paid policies,

Community, Work & Family, DOI: 10.1080/13668803.2019.1704398. Retrieved from

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13668803.2019.1704398
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U.S. Department of Labor (2019). Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Retrieved from

https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/workhours/fmla