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Jazmine Davis

Professor Collins

ENGL 1301

10/10/2017

Family Leave

The Family and Medical Leave Act was first introduced by William D. Ford on January

third, 1993 and established by February fourth, 1993. The Family and Medical Leave Act allows

employees unpaid time off for family or medical reasons. This includes illness, relative illness,

birth, or adoption of a child. Before this act was established it was very common for employees

to lose their job. Women who had given birth and requested four weeks from work, often did not

have a job to come back to. This limited career prospects for women. Now with this act,

employees can return to work with full pay and benefits. According to the United States

Department of Labor, this allows families to balance their work and family responsibilities

without repercussions. There have not been any changes in the past twenty-four years apart from

some employers surpassing the requirements. For example, the company Facebook offers sixteen

weeks leave instead of the required twelve. The Family and Medical Leave act has become a

topic of discussion because of the debate on whether or not to change and update the Act.

Maureen Hoch published an article on February eighth, 2012 addressing the changes in

the FMLA. According to Hoch, only sixty percent of employees qualify for the Family and

Medical Leave Act and fifty six percent of that is women (20 years). Hoch sent questions to

Emily Zuckerman, a Senior Director of Global administrator and legal fairs, about the changes in
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the workplace. The biggest change according to Zuckerman is the demographic changes.

Millennials merge their work and home lives more than any other generation causing these issues

to be important to both men and women (20 years). Current workplace expectations

disadvantage both men and women. (Emily Zuckerman) It is clear that over the past twenty-

four years there have not been any changes in the Family and Medical Leave Act but have been

changes in the workplace affecting the employees.

When Senator Bernie Sanders was running for president he proposed raising $1.61 to

payroll tax to offer twelve weeks of paid family leave. Hillary Clinton debated with Sanders

saying this addition to the payroll is too much for the average worker. Clinton had yet to propose

her own plan other than we can ask the wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes (TheHill.com).

Marlene Y. Satter published an article on May twenty third, 2017 mentioning President Trumps

plan for the FMLA. Trumps original plan when running for President suggested only giving six-

week paid leave to married biological mothers. It was clear these senators and Trump saw that

the FMLA needed to be updated. Once president, Trump purposed a new plan but Senator

Sanders scrutinizes it as inadequate (TheHill.com).

President Trumps new proposal offered nineteen billion dollars over ten years to require

that states provide employees, changing it from exclusively married biological mothers, six

weeks of paid leave as apart of employment benefits. Mick Mulvaney, a republican director of

office and budget management, originally purposed twenty-five billion dollars but some

republicans were already skeptical on approving any changes to the FMLA (TheHill.com)

Senator Orrin and Senator Cruz did not feel comfortable with this plan but they had denied past

proposals on the FMLA and decided to not oppose to this one (Marlene Satter).
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Emma Talkoff wrote an article addressing the FMLA proposals on June sixth, 2017.

Talkoff addresses Ivanka Trump meeting with lawmakers for almost an hour to discuss paid

family leave. Senator Marco Rubio led the meeting in hopes to pass legislation to benefit

families (Emma Talkoff). Ivanka Trump left the meeting tweeting, Just left a productive

meeting on the Hill to discuss issues affecting American working families, including childcare &

paid family leave!" (Ivanka Trump). Although they had finally decided on an update to the

FMLA there were still those who opposed the plan. Bernie Sanders believes its a good start but

totally inadequate funding for paid family leave. Senator Patty Murray disagrees with Trumps

proposal as well and believes it does not offer the family any resolution. Many believe that this

would be a step forward for America but there are still those who believe that America needs to

take a bigger step in improving the Family and Medical Leave Act.

There are many who support the baby step that Trump has offered for the FMLA but

there are a lot more who oppose it. Whether it be too much or too little. This is a topic that is

sensitive in the white house today. No one can agree on a proper proposal because each have

particular details that want to be met. The democratic party wants more for families. They want

more paid leave time and less negotiation while the republican party dont want to change it at

all other than what Trump has purposed. This legislation will pass through republicans because

they prefer this update more than the democratic proposal. These two sides will never agree

completely on anything including the Family and Medical Leave Act.

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Work Cited

Hoch, Maureen. 20 Years After FMLA, What's Changed and What Hasn't? Harvard Business

Review, 7 Aug. 2014, hbr.org/2013/02/20-years-after-fmla-whats-chan.

Talkoff, Emma. Ivanka Trump Met with Lawmakers.

web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=6aa72d41-90e2-4516-895a-

55ab2d15fb2f%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=123710271&

db=voh.

Satter, Marlene Y. Paid Family Leave Could Happen under Trump Budget Proposal. 23 May 2017,

web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=4a32563f-0aa2-4ef2-a5f0-

6cc897b54c27%40sessionmgr120&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=123238659&

db=bth

Wheeler, Lydia. GOP Skeptical of Trump Plan for Paid Parental Leave. TheHill, 23 May 2017,

thehill.com/regulation/administration/334816-gop-skeptical-of-trump-plan-for-paid-parental-leave.