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U.S. Master™ Wage-Hour Guide, 2009 Edition
Presents a first approach to the broad and complex controls under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and other statutes regulating employee wages and hours.
The Department of Labor has drafted a set of proposed regulations in an attempt to clarify ambiguous aspects of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), partly in response to employer complaints about the difficulty of administering the Act. The DOL delivered the regulations to the Office of Management and Budget for review on January 24 in hopes of publishing them for comment within the next few weeks.
Employers hope the proposed regulations address what they describe as employee abuse of the system. To this end, the regulations likely will clarify the definition of serious health condition, which employers say has led to significant confusion. The rules also may require tighter employee notification requirements to deter unscheduled, intermittent leave. In addition, the revisions are likely to modify medical certification and verification requirements. The Labor Department identified those as key issues among employers in a June 2007 report.
Employee groups lobbied the department to expand the Act and are worried the proposed regulations may have the opposite effect. "We are gravely concerned that these new regulations will restrict the protections workers have relied on for nearly 15 years--protections they need now more than ever, with the economy in trouble and families struggling," stated Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families.
Under the FMLA, employers with 50 or more employees must grant workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child, to care for an ailing family member or to take medical leave from work for a serious medical condition.
Pending FMLA expansion. The Labor Department reportedly is drafting separate new rules that represent the first expansion of the FMLA since it was enacted in 1993. Under a defense bill (H.R. 4986) recently approved by Congress and expected to be signed by President Bush, family members of recovering servicemembers will become eligible to receive up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave from work. The expansion of the Act also would entitle spouses, children, or parents of servicemembers who are on active duty or preparing to deploy to take up to 12 weeks of FMLA leave.
For more information on this and other topics, consult CCH Employment Practices Guide or CCH Labor Relations.
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