Issues, Solutions, Pros & Cons: Everything You Should Know About The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Traci Johnson
ENG.215: Research and Writing
Prof. D. Meadows

What is FMLA? How does it work? These questions are very common when it comes to FMLA. Many people do not understand the fundamentals of this act, nor the effects that it can have on the employer as well as the employee, and fellow employees. Throughout this paper, you will learn what FMLA is, how it works, the issues, pros, and cons of this act, as well as solutions that could better this act, and help it to be more easily understood and beneficial to all parties involved. What is FMLA? FMLA is the abbreviation for the Family and Medical Leave Act; which is a bill that was passed in 1993. This bill states that federal law required companies and employers, who employ more than 50 employees, must provide their employees with 12 work weeks of job-protected and unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reasons. However, not all employees will qualify to receive leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. There are several qualifying factors that determine whether or not the employee is eligible for leave under this act, and whether or not a company is even required to honor leave under this act.
It is required by law that all public, state, local, federal, and educational agencies, and all private sector employers who employ 50 or more people for at least 20 workweeks in a 12 months year, this includes joint employers and successors of covered employers to provide leave under FMLA to its employees who meet the eligibility requirements. This in-turn means that not all companies are required to provide FMLA leave. In order for an employee to be eligible for FMLA leave, they must work for a covered employee, have worked for that employer for at least one year, have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months prior to requesting the leave, and they must work at a location where at least 50 employees are employed at the location or within 75 miles of the location. This also means that not all employees are eligible for leave under FMLA. The original entitlement for leave under tis act was: For the birth of a son or daughter, or to care for a newborn child. For placement of a child of either adoption or foster care to be placed with the employee, and to care for the newly placed child. To care for an immediate Family member (spouse, child, or parent, but not in-law) with a serious health condition, and when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition. It was not until 2008, when this act was revised that they began including military families into this act, giving them “12 weeks of leave per year for certain qualifying exigencies arising out of a covered military’s active duty status, or notification of an impending call or order to active duty status, in support of a contingency operation.” It also gave them “Up to 26 weeks of leave in a single 12 month period to care for a covered service member recovering from a serious injury or illness occurring in the line of duty on active duty. Eligible employees are entitled to a combined total of up to 26 weeks of all types of FMLA leave during a 12-month period.” (Revised final regulations: WHD: Department of Labor: 2008) These changes were not effective until January of 2009, even though they were revised and approved in 2008. In 2010, these changed made to this act in 2008 were expanded, covering not only active service members, but veterans as well. In 2012 the final revision of the Family and Medical Leave Act was put into place combining all of the original regulations and well as the ones that were added, creating a revised and better suited version of this bill.
While there are a lot of good coming from FMLA, there are also a lot of problems and issues that are still being dealt with. It has been more than 20 years since this act was put into place, and yet problems are still arising and trying to be resolved. There have been several article published about people who take advantage of FMLA, while there have also been several articles written about people who don’t even qualify to get leave under FMLA. Although the Department of Labor: Wage and hour Division states that:
FMLA entitles employees of covered employers to receive 12-weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for specified reasons due to family or health issues with continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave (Family and Medical Leave Act – Wage and Hour Division (WHD) – U.S. Department of Labor, 2012)
The problems with FMLA between employees and employers are constantly being dealt with, and yet there are always other issues that need to be dealt with in turn of what arises from policies regarding leave approved by FMLA, or lack thereof. The companies, who are required by law to carry this leave act, are also the ones who hire only “part-time” employees so that they do not qualify for leave under this act, simply because they do not work enough hours a week to qualify. There was an article that was published in 2013 that stated “FMLA provides up to 12-weeks per year of unpaid leave if an employee has a new baby or a serious illness in the family. But there are a number of restrictions, meaning some 40 percent of the workforce is not eligible.” (FMLA Not Really Working For Many Employees – February 5, 2013) There are many issues that lie within this act, which makes it rather easy for employees to take advantage of this act. The reasons for leave under this act are so vague and broad, and are so unclear that employers may not be sure exactly what could be covered under this act. It would ease all of these issues, maybe not eliminate them, but ease them, and the confusion, if the act itself was rewritten completely. Many employers are hiring employees on “part-time” but working them 30 to 40 hours per week, but because the company does not consider them full time, the employees are not being approved for leave under this act, when the leave that they are trying to get could be legitimately covered under the act. Employers should be fair in how they schedule employees and give them the appropriate leave that they are entitled. This issue also stems from employees who take advantage of and abuse this act, because employers aren’t sure who is requesting leave legitimately under this act, and who is requesting for leave that could be covered simply because they want time off of work. In order for employers to be sure what is covered and who is legitimately requesting leave that is covered under this act, the act itself should be rewritten and restated to make it clearer to both employers and employees as to what is and is not covered. Also, employees should provide proof that the leave requested under this act is actually for they say is going on. For instance, if an employee calls in “sick” and requests that the leave is covered under FMLA, they should provide documentation from a physician on what is wrong so that the employer knows if it is covered under the act. Though the Family and Medical Leave Act have several issues within its policies, there are also advantages to having FMLA available to you. The family medical leave act was planned to allow employees to be able to have a work life, and personal life balance so that they are able meet the needs of their families. It was created with the employees in mind to help take care of themselves or other family members who have a serious health condition. Although many people, including myself, could find a million issues with FMLA, and why this act should be revised, one must also think about what this act could do to help us as employees. With that in mind, we find that the more information that you find about the Family and Medical Leave Act, the more we see that it was written more for the employee than the employer. This act is in place to give employees job protected leave from work due to serious medical conditions or illnesses weather for themselves or an immediate family member (i.e. child or spouse).
FMLA benefits the employer by allowing him or her to excuse his employees for medical conditions or family issues. This benefits both the employer and employee in allowing them to both know that there can be a balance between the workplace and family life. These twelve weeks of un-paid, job protected leave eases the minds of employees who qualify because this means that they do not have to worry about their job position being replaces while they are out of work. The act also states that an employee gets twelve weeks per year, which means they can use this leave once a year if they need to. This act also covers a broad range of conditions, making it very versatile. Rather than just pregnancy, which is the most common condition that women take leave for, the act also covers caring for an adopted child or children new to foster care, should it be needed. The Family and Medical Leave Act also covers sickness and inability to work due to a serious medical condition. If for some reason an employee needs to take care of a family member for a short period of time, due to illness or injury, as long as it is a spouse, child or parent, then the employee is eligible for leave under FMLA.
Some people may wonder what time has to do with this act, but in reality it has everything to do with it. You see, When it comes to FMLA, time is very useful, especially when used for pregnancy. The twelve weeks of leave under this act for the employee allows the employee enough time for her body to heal and to adjust to having a new baby around, all the while her job is protected and waiting for her to return. Although, there is a downside to time playing a major role when it comes to FMLA, and that is that if a serious illness occurs and hospitalization is required, then twelve weeks may not be long enough for an employee to return to work, depending solely on the situation and circumstances of course. Although this act benefits the employees, it also benefits the employers as well. The Family and Medical Leave act gives employees the freedom to deal with serious injuries or illnesses, either for themselves or their family members. For employers, the benefit is that during this time while the employee is on leave, the employers can recruit new employees, as well as boost the morale of current employees by eliminating the anxiety related to their own families or illnesses of their family members. Many issues have been found and reported when it comes to FMLA. These advantages have cons of their own, and I feel that those should be included as well. A downside is, though the twelve weeks of leave are job-protected, those same twelve weeks are un-paid as well. For many people, going twelve weeks a year without any form of pay or income can be extremely difficult, seeing as paying bills and providing for their family are extremely important.
Though employees do not have to pay for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the employer is still put into a situation where they must restructure the workplace to accommodate an employee who is out of work for any length of time. This particular matter leaves the employer and the companies in a position where it is necessary to hire part time employees to fill the position of the employee who is taking FMLA leave. These part time employees that must be hired are entitled to workers compensation as well as other coverages that are mandatory for the employer to offer to them, but they are not able to receive FMLA. This matter is both expensive and time consuming for the employers and the companies. Employers also have to deal with redoing work schedules and assigning duties to other employees while the employee is on FMLA leave, and other employees are forced to put off vacation time that was requested in advanced or work related travel due to the fact that the company needs the work of the employee out on leave to be done. Employees do not often realize the toll that FMLA leave takes on their fellow employees. Other workers are forced to work overtime, and perform additional job duties because the work still has to be done.
So many of these issues and cons could be taken care of by simply revising the Family and Medical Leave Act in order to make more understandable for all parties involved. Some people may worry that is this act becomes revised, some of the advantages may dissipate. This should not be an issue; these advantages are part of the purpose for this act. Therefore, revising this act would not take away its advantages. If this act were more understood, not just by employees, but by physicians and employers as well, it would not be as easy for employees to take advantage of FMLA leave. This in turn could help employees who actually need and qualify for leave under FMLA to actually get it. Solutions to a large majority of the issues with the Family and Medical Leave Act could be met by simply allowing congress to revise and reword the way this act is written. Including specific qualifications or conditions that are covered under FMLA could help clarify what is covered, and prevent employees from taking advantage of leave covered under FMLA.
This may not be all of the issues or solutions to the Family and Medical Leave Act; however, it should be enough information to allow you, the readers, to decide for yourselves whether or not this act is okay the way it is, or if it should be changed. There are examples of Issues, Pros and Cons as well as a major solution that could potentially make the Family and Medical Leave Act better for everyone. So, should the Family and Medical Leave Act be changed? Well, I guess the answer to that question depends solely upon the person that you may ask about the subject.

References:
U.S. Department of Labor. (September 14, 2012). Family and Medical Leave Act. In Wage and Hour Division(WHD). Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla
The National Coalition to Protect Family Leave. The FMLA Issue. Retrieved from http://www.protectfamilyleave.org/about/issue.cfm
National Public Radio (February 5, 2013). FMLA Not Really Working For Many Employees. Retrieved from: http://www.npr.org/2013/02/05/171078451/fmla-not-really-working-for-many-employees
Helios HR (December 4, 2013). Problems with FMLA Abuse: How Can Employers Spot It? (Written by Sharon Harper). Retrieved from: http://www.helioshr.com/2013/12/-4/problems-with-fmla-abuse-employers-stop-it/
U.S. Department of Labor: Chapter IV. Unscheduled Intermittent Leave. Retrieved from: http://www.dol.gov/whd/FMLA2007Report/Chapter4.pdf
The Heritage Foundation. (August 28, 2007). Use and Abuse of the Family and Medical Leave Act: What Workers and Employers Say. (Written by James Sherk). Retrieved from: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/08/use-and-abuse-of-the-family-and-medical-leave-act-what-workers-and-employers-say
Department of Labor: Wage and Hour Division: FMLA Guidelines: Retrieved from; http://www.dol.gov/whd/fml/APPENDIXF.htm
HR Hero: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): Retrieved from: http://topics.hrhero.com/fammily-and-medical-leave-act-fmla/#
Reference for Business: Encyclopedia of Business, 2nd Edition: Family and Medical Leave Act: Retrieved from: http:// http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/small/Eq-Inc/Family-and-Medical-Leave-Act.html