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The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Essay

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You get the phone call in the middle of the night. Your son or daughter has been in a serious accident and is hospitalized in critical condition. After several day’s they come home from the hospital with several broken bones and require your around the clock attention for the next eight to twelve weeks. You just got over a serious medical condition yourself which you acquired while on vacation and do not have any vacation time or sick time to take off. Do you have to quit your job? Can your employer terminate you for taking time off to be with your child? What options do you have? What can your employer do for you? Well, the answer lies in the Family and Medical Leave Act.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was passed in 1993 and …show more content…

The FMLA benefits the employer by allowing him or her to excuse his employees for medical conditions or family issues. This benefits both the employer and employee in allowing them to both know that their can be a balance between the workplace and family life. (dol.gov)

Some of the disadvantages that the employer faces are not being able to predict when employees will be taking FMLA leave, causing them to make last minute changes to work schedules and the understanding of what is considered to be a serious illness. A recent survey reported by Ioma, a leading business management organization, states that the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that 68% of organizations have experienced challenges in administering medical leave under the FMLA. These challenges include:
• Tracking intermittent leave (51%)
• Costs associated with lost productivity due to employees’ absences (40%)
• Unsure about the legitimacy of leave requests (36%)
• Morale problems among employees asked to cover for absent employees (33%)
• DOL regulations and guidance is contradictory and confusing (27%) (ioma. Payroll report)

Current Use of FMLA

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently reported

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