A bill to amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to apply the Act to a greater percentage of the United States workforce, and for other purposes

4 Pages·1999·0.15 MB·English

by  United States. Congress. Senate

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1stSession S.
To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to apply the Act
toa greaterpercentage ofthe United Statesworkforce, and forother
purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January19,1999
Mr.DODD(forhimself,Mr.DASCHLE,Mr.KENNEDY,Mrs.Murray,Ms.Ml-
KULSKi, Mr. HARiaN, Mr. Kerry, Mr.Akaka, Mrs. Boxer, and Mr.
Wellston'E)introducedthefolloviingbill;whichwasreadtwiceandre-
ferredtotheCommitteeonHealth,Education,Labor,andPensions
A
BILL
To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to
apply the Act to a greater percentage of the United
Statesworkforce,andforotherpurposes.
1 Beitenactedhythe SenateandHouseofRepresenta-
2 tivesoftheUnitedStatesofAmericainCongressassembled,
3 SECTION1.SHORTTITLE.
4 ThisAct maybe cited as the "Family and Medical
5 LeaveFairnessActof1999".
6 SEC.2.FINDINGS.
7 Congressfindsthat
(1) theFamilyand Medical LeaveAct of1993
(29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) has pro^dded employees
withasignificantnewtoolinbalancingtheneedsof
theirfamilieswiththedemandsofwork;
(2) theFamilyand Medical LeaveActof1993
has had a minimalimpact onbusiness, and over 90
percent ofprivate employers coveredbytheAct ex-
periencedlittleornocostandaminimal, orpositive,
impactonproductivityasaresultoftheAct;
(3) althoughbothemployersatworkplaceswith
largenumbers ofemployees and employers atwork-
places with small numbers of employees reported
that compliancewiththe FamilyandMedical Leave
Act of 1993 involved very easy administration and
lowcosts, the smalleremployers foundit easier and
lessexpensivetocomplywiththeActthanthelarger
employers;
(4) overthree-quarters ofworksiteswithunder
50 employees covered by the Family and Medical
LeaveActof1993 report no costincreasesorsmall
cost increases associated with compliance with the
Act;
(5) in 1998, 27percentofAmericansneededto
take family or medical leave butwere unable to do
so, and 44 percent ofthese employees did not take
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1 suchleavebecausetheywouldhavelosttheirjobsor
2 theiremployersdidnotallowit;
3 (6) only 57 percent ofthe private workforce is
4 current^ protected by the Famil}^ and Medical
5 LeaveActof1993;and
6 (7) 13,000,000 more private employees, or an
7 additional 14percentoftheprivateworkforce,would
8 be protected by the Family and Medical Leave Act
9 of 1993 if the Act was expanded to cover private
10 employerswith25ormoreemployees.
11 SEC.3.COVERAGEOFEMPLOYEES.
12 Paragraphs (2)(B)(ii) and(4)(A)(i)ofsection101of
13 the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C.
14 2611(2)(B)(ii) and (4)(A)(i)) are amended by striking
15 "50"eachplaceitappearsandinserting"25".
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