Upon signing the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) on February 8, 1993, President Clinton declared that "American workers will no longer have to choose between the job they need and the family they love." (Shair, D. I. 1993)Clinton's remarks reflected the legislative intent of the Act: that the FMLA would help American families and society deal with the issues that had arisen as more women, especially mothers, entered the work force. It would, in the words of the Act itself, allow employees "to balance the demands of the workplace with the needs of families, to promote the stability and economic security of families, and to promote national interests in preserving family integrity." Mothers and fathers would no longer have to be concerned about losing their jobs or their work status to take time off for the birth of a child; parents would no longer have to worry about who would care for a sick child, as they would be available to do it themselves. (Shair, D. I. 1993)
FMLA was intended to benefit both employees and employers. Enacted in 1993, it protects eligible U.S. employees who have worked at least 1,250 hours in a given year from job loss resulting from personal or family health issues. The law allows employees unpaid leave of up to 12 weeks a year during their own or a family member's serious illness, or to care for, or bond with, a newborn, foster or adopted child. However, the complexity of the act has made it difficult for employers to administer it in the spirit originally intended. In fact, it is an administrative and productivity burden for many, according to a study our firm did of actual absence data from more than 700,000 FMLA transactions involving firms with 1,000 to 60,000 employees. (Shair, D. I. 1993).........
