Friday, February 8, 2008

Taking Their Leave

Every year, about 7 million people take unpaid time off thanks to the Family and Medical Leave Act, which marked its 15th anniversary this week.

About half temporarily leave their jobs to care for themselves, and another one-fourth are caring for a new child, said Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families. The remainder care for immediate family members for up to 12 weeks.

The Labor Department has estimated that between 8 and 17 percent of eligible workers take time off under the act in a year.

Men make up 40 percent of FMLA users, largely to deal with their own issues, but also to be with a baby, Ness said. "It's pretty amazing the stories we have . . . [about] the impact this law has on people's lives -- very personal times in the lives when having this protection made difference in being with loved one who was enormously ill or dying." (Her group collects stories on the Web at http://www.thanksfmla.org.)

Such stories could be helpful in what Ness hopes is "the beginning of a multiyear push" to expand the law to cover the 40 percent of workers who aren't eligible now.

-- Vickie Elmer