Family and medical leave act not so bad after all - Capitol Concern - Column

Discount Store News, Nov 6, 1995 by Ken Rankin

Five years ago when Congress debated the merits of legislation offering workers the right to take family and medical leave, retailers were among the sharpest critics of this proposal.

Within the industry, there was serious concern that the legislation would open the door for costly personnel scheduling headaches and chronic employee relations nightmares.

Even though workers would not be entitled to pay for leave taken under this plan, employers feared that many workers would exercise their "right" not to work for up to 12 straight weeks-and then demand to be reinstated in their old jobs.

Recruiting and training temporary replacements for workers on unscheduled and extensive family or medical leave would be difficult, expensive and disruptive to store operations, they predicted.

But it hasn't been the disaster that many retailers feared. In the two years since the Family and Medical Leave Act took effect, employer complaints about the new requirements have been minimal.

Although tens of millions of American workers are covered by FMLA benefits, labor department officials report receiving a total of only 3,000 complaints about employer compliance.

Better yet, "most of those complaints were resolved by phone and only a handful have resulted in court action," the department said.

More good news surfaced as a result of a pair of new studies evaluating the implementation of FMLA requirements in the workforce. Among other things, research found no evidence that workers are frivolously exercising their right to claim family leave.

Indeed, over the past two years only 3% of workers eligible under FMLA have actually taken leave, the studies found.

And although employees are entitled to up to 12 consecutive weeks of unpaid leave under FMLA, the studies found that the average length of leave taken under the act was only 37 days.

As for the impact on employers, the researchers reported more good news.

Nine out of 10 businesses affected by the new law said they incurred little or no added costs in administering the leave provisions, and 85% reported "no noticeable effect" on employee turnover, absences or productivity.

"This act really points out the best of corporate America and U.S. workers," said Labor Secretary Robert Reich in response to the new study findings.

"Given the opportunity to provide this important family benefit, most employers have embraced it and helped their employees use it," he said. "And clearly, it is a benefit that American workers have not abused, but found very, very helpful in times of health or medical crisis."